Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly reveals true thoughts about John Tavares losing the captaincy
The Toronto Maple Leafs made a dramatic move this summer when they removed the captaincy from John Tavares and gave it to Auston Matthews and now Morgan Rielly is sharing his thought on the move.
Many Leafs fans were expecting major changes this summer after the team once again lost in the first round of the playoffs in seven games to the Boston Bruins. In the last seven years, the Leafs have made the playoffs every season but only advanced past the first round once.
That came in the 2022-23 season when they proceeded to lose in 5 games to the Florida Panthers. Meanwhile, the team has lost to the Bruins in the first round in three of those seven years, further twisting the knife in Leafs' fans hearts.
After yet another failure, change was bound to happen. In this case, Brad Treliving and the rest of the team's management decided that the best move was to change captains, giving the job to their superstar, Auston Matthews.
Many fans were expecting more changes to come in the form of the roster, specifically with regards to Mitch Marner. However, all indications point to the winger still being on the team come October.
Understandably, the change to the captaincy has become the new major discussion surrounding the team and even the players are getting involved. The team's number one defenseman, Morgan Rielly, recently shared his thoughts on the change, noting that John Tavares has accepted it as any good leader would.
That being said, when the team officially did the handover, with Tavares handing Matthews his new jersey, it seemed to be pretty clear that one of the players was significantly more happy than the other. You can judge for yourself who that was in the post below.
Will Matthews be an effective captain for the Leafs? That much has yet to be seen. However, Rielly also had some kind words to share about the new captain, expressing his utmost confidence that he can do the job well.
At the end of the day, all that the Leafs will care about is success. If they can get past the first round next season and at least have a good showing in the second round, perhaps people around the league will start to take the Leafs more seriously as contenders. Matthews and the rest of the core is only getting older though, so they better get a move on if they want to lift the Stanley Cup together.
| POLL | ||
How far do you think Morgan Rielly and the Toronto Maple Leafs will go in the playoffs next season? | ||
| 1st round exit | 88 | 19.7 % |
| 2nd round exit | 123 | 27.6 % |
| Conference finals | 163 | 36.5 % |
| Stanley Cup Finals | 72 | 16.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
