Former NY Islanders captain John Tavares to be stripped of Toronto Maple Leafs captaincy

After serving five seasons as the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the organization is preparing to remove the "C" from John Tavares's sweater, passing the honor to Auston Matthews, according to multiple sources. The team announced there will be a press conference at 11 am on Wednesday where they'll officially unveil Matthews as the new captain.

Tavares, who was the captain of the NY Islanders for five seasons before leaving Long Island for his hometown of Toronto in the summer of 2018, has been scrutinized in the league's biggest hockey market ever since signing his 7-year, $11M AAV contract north of the border.

Expected to be the missing piece to the Leafs' lineup, Tavares has been unable to lead Toronto on a deep playoff run, advancing past the first round only once in his six years with the organization.

His best season with the Leafs came before being named captain, finishing with 88 points (47 G, 41 A) in his first season with the team. Since then, Tavares has been under a point-per-game player.

Tavares has just one season remaining on his current contract, with this decision making his future past the 2024-25 season with Toronto in question.

Matthews, who was in consideration to take the captaincy before the honor was bestowed on Tavares, has been the face of the franchise since entering the league in 2016. Since that time, Matthews has scored the most goals in the NHL with 368.

The first overall pick of the Islanders in 2009, Tavares was the first bright light at the end of a long dark tunnel for the Islanders. He was the face of the franchise and expected to play a major role in the team going forward after ownership brought on Lou Lamoriello as GM and Barry Trotz as Head Coach.

After expressing his desire to continue his career on Long Island, Tavares turned down more money from the team he played all nine of his NHL seasons with and made him the 14th captain in team history, in favor of his hometown Leafs.

While it's rare for a player to be stripped of the captaincy, it's not unheard of. Duston Brown, Vincent Lecavalier, Mike Modano, Joe Thornton, and Dustin Brown are some notable names to have lost the "C."