Auston Matthews spoke on what an honour it would be to be the Leafs' captain

Ever since the departure of Dion Phaneuf in the 2015-2016 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have remained without a captain. Of course, every season since, the ‘who’ and ‘when’ speculations regarding which new Leaf will don the “C” have swirled feverishly.  

Before the arrival of hometown boy John Tavares last July 1st, it seemed like it was a race between young phenom Auston Matthews, and long-serving Leaf Morgan Rielly. Now, things are more interesting than before. 

In an interview with The Athletic’s Craig Morgan,  Matthews wasn’t shy in expressing what an honour it would be to wear the coveted “C” for the Leafs. 

"The captaincy in hockey in general is a huge honour, but especially in Toronto. You see the names of the guys that have come before you. We have all the captains banners lined up for us in our practice rink. You know the names, what they brought to the team, their competitiveness, what they did throughout the community, so it's a bit of a bigger honour, in my opinion, to bestow that in Toronto."

Not one to disregard the contribution of his teammates, Matthews went on to explain that regardless of who ends up with the official captaincy, the goals of the team will remain the same. 

"Everybody has the same goal in mind. Everybody wants to contribute in their own way and do what's best for the team. When somebody is ready, Kyle and the staff will make a good choice. No matter who it is, you move forward, do your thing and put in the work."

There’s lots of dominos that have yet to fall into place for the Leafs before the season starts, and we know fans will be waiting anxiously on many answers.