Matthews’ blue-letter day can’t be that far away
GLENDALE, ARIZ.— It didn’t seem possible that such a crowded media scrum could have been assembled for a hockey star, not if you know anything about the history of apathy around the NHL’s troubled Phoenix project.
Then again, if Auston Matthews has shown us anything in his short time in the spotlight, it’s a gift for making the unlikely a reality.
Become the first player raised and trained in a sunshine market to be picked No. 1 overall in the NHL? Matthews, who learned to skate here in the desert and grew up an avid attendee of Coyotes games — yes, he was the one — pulled that off back in June.
Score four goals in the greatest NHL debut in a century? He unfurled that bit of genius in October in Ottawa.
Almost immediately become the leading scorer and best player on a promisingly competitive Maple Leafs team that’s both fun to watch and easy to like? Matthews is already both of those things and more.
And on Friday, as he prepared to welcome friends and family and legions of young players from Arizona’s burgeoning hockey scene to his once-in-a-lifetime homecoming game — the Leafs and Coyotes at Gila River Arena — he was paid some awfully big respect by a man who doesn’t dole the stuff out off-handedly.
“I think Auston’s been great. He’s a mature kid. He works hard. He learns fast,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock told the assembled horde on Friday. “I think maybe his greatest skill is that he wants to be great. He’s determined to be great. He grinds hard to be better. And when you do those things, your teammates have a great appreciation for you.”
Maybe this is reading too much into it, but Babcock’s assessment of his star centreman sounded like something more than high praise. It sounded like a description of the next captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The club doesn’t have one this season; it hasn’t since Dion Phaneuf was traded to Ottawa in February. But given Matthews’ astonishing rise, it seems highly likely that somewhere in the not-so-distant future he’ll be named Phaneuf’s predecessor.
Matthews is just 19, yes. But there’s plenty of precedent for similarly aged talents being handed such a mantle. Some of the most successful examples have led teams to multiple Stanley Cups, among them Sidney Crosby, a No. 1 overall pick bestowed the honour in Pittsburgh at age 19, and Jonathan Toews, whose sweater was adorned with a “C” when Toews was 20. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid became the youngest captain in NHL history in October, a few months before his 20th birthday.
Former Leafs captain Doug Gil- mour, who has watched the beginning of this season with great interest, acknowledged Matthews exudes qualities required for the job.
“There’s a lot of composure, a lot of maturity there. He’s got to be a guy you look at (for captain). Because he’s going to be a big part of that team for a while,” Gilmour was saying this week. “(But) I think (the Leafs) just want to take some time. There’s a couple of guys there who could probably step in and do it. There’s a guy on the back end, for sure.”
Without a doubt, Morgan Rielly, 22 years old and in his fourth NHL season, has established himself as the team’s most dependable presence on both the blueline and the media scrum. He’s obvious captain material. Nazem Kadri has been mentioned by some observers as a possible candidate, too. As for youngsters, it’s hard to imagine Mitch Marner, Matthews’s fellow 19-year-old and carpool sidekick, won’t be a big part of Toronto’s leadership picture for years.
This season Rielly, Tyler Bozak, Matt Hunwick and Leo Komarov are all wearing an “A” on their respective sweaters as alternate captains. As Babcock has said, leadership ultimately needs to be a group endeavour.
But Babcock has also said he would rather have a captain than not, and he has already spoken of his specific standards.
“Not only do you have to be a good human being . . . but you’ve got to have a certain skill set. If you don’t have enough skill, I think it’s hard to be the captain,” Babcock said months ago. “And the other thing I know about leadership — when you’re not playing well yourself, it’s pretty hard to talk.”
That’s not to say Matthews’ anointment is imminent. Certainly team president Brendan Shanahan and GM Lou Lamoriello will have influence here. And there are those who’d argue there’s no rush. Wendel Clark, who preceded Gilmour wearing the Leafs “C,” raised a skeptical eye toward the trend of teenaged NHL captains, dismissing McDavid’s naming — along with Colorado’s decision to hand the captaincy to 19-year-old Gabriel Landeskog back in 2012 — as “marketing.”
“Edmonton’s moving to a new building. Colorado’s got to market the team. You’re selling a good story,” Clark said. “In Montreal and Toronto it’s not about the story. It’s about finding a way to win every year. Your marketing comes by winning.
“Why throw that extra stuff at (Matthews) for no reason when right now you can spread it through a group? Not that he doesn’t have all the potential going towards (being captain), which I think he does. It’s just that there’s no rush . . . Management might feel differently. But there’s no reason to throw stuff at people.
“It’ll happen itself in the dressing room. It’s not something you have to artificially project.”
Wise words, for sure. Still, it seems a safe enough bet that Toronto’s most promising centreman since a captain named Sundin will soon enough become the first American to wear the vaunted letter in Leafland.
Speaking of the unlikely becoming reality: Maybe it’s only a coincidence that one of Matthews’s dressingroom nicknames is Mats.