Historic!
Auston Matthews became the first Mexican-American to be named captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and became the 26th player to receive the distinction with the second-winningest franchise of all time in the National Hockey League.
Matthews, 26, replaces John Tavares, who had been captain since October 2, 2019. Tavares himself supported the decision along with General Manager Brad Treliving. The forward of Mexican roots is the first player born in the United States to receive the so-called letter “C” in a franchise with 107 years of history and is also the second non-Canadian to defend the distinction since the Swede Mats Sundin did it between 1997 and 2008.
Matthews was born in San Ramon, California, but grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona. Selected with the first pick in the 2016 draft, he set a career-high in points with 107 and goals with 69, both of which were the most since Mario Lemieux had the same amount in the 1995-96 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Mexican-American has won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer on three occasions; 2020-21, 2021-22, 2023-24. When he scored 60 goals in 2021-22, he became the first Hispanic to reach that mark. That same season, he won the Hart Trophy as the Most Valuable Player, along with the Ted Lindsay Award, which is awarded annually to the league’s most outstanding figure as voted for by members of the NHL Players’ Association. Previously, he won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year (2016-17).
Since joining the NHL in the 2016-17 season, Matthews has scored at least 34 goals in every season and leads all NHL players with 368 goals, 40 more than the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin (328), who is second. Matthews is also eighth in points during that span with 649.
