Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews made a gesture towards forward John Tavares that goes to show just how much he has grown as a leader.
When John Tavares passed off the captaincy of the Toronto Maple Leafs to Auston Matthews a couple of short summers ago, the move was met with mixed reviews.
Most understood the Leafs' desire to slap the "C" on Matthews' sweater as he is one of the league's elite players. He was coming off of a 69-goal season at the time, and with Tavares having just one season remaining on his deal, the timing just seemed right.
Matthews hasn't had an easy first two seasons as captain, with injuries dictating how his 2024-25 and 2025-26 campaigns had and have gone, but he does appear to be turning a corner now, following a 3-goal, 4-point performance in a 6-5 comeback win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.
Matthews' gesture towards John Tavares not going unnoticed
Now, ahead of the Leafs' meeting with the New York Islanders tonight, Matthews is showing that he understands that leadership goes far beyond what happens on the ice during games.
With the team in Tavares' old stomping grounds, as practice came to a close, Matthews urged the former captain to lead the team in post-practice stretches, a role usually reserved for the current captain.
The gesture shows that Matthews isn't just going through the motions from day to day. He's paying attention and has games like this one circled on the calendar.
The Islanders have been notoriously harsh on Tavares when playing on The Island, largely due to his decision to leave the team in 2018 and return home to Toronto on a 7-year deal on the first day of free agency.
Matthews giving Tavares the honour of leading the stretches today not only shows the mutual respect between the two stars, but also showed that even though he doesn't wear the "C" anymore, the team is behind him and still views him as a leader. They're grateful, not only for the decision he made in 2018, but the one he made this past summer when he took a team-friendly deal to extend his stay with the Leafs.
You can trust that the Islanders fans are going to give Tavares a very un-warm welcome. The gesture from Matthews this morning is just another indicator that this team will have his back tonight.