From the sounds of it, Rick Vaive wasn’t all that surprised to see Auston Matthews take over from John Tavares as captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this month.
Vaive, who served as Maple Leafs captain from 1982 to 1986, appeared on Tuesday’s edition of Leafs Morning Take with Jay Rosehill and Nick Alberga to share his thoughts on the biggest hockey news in Toronto thus far.
“I think it was inevitable that it was going to happen at some point,” Vaive said. “I thought maybe they would’ve waited until the end of the season when John’s contract was up to see where things were at that point, but, I mean, I’m not surprised.
“The question is, is it going to make any difference in the long term as far as playoffs and that sort of thing?” Vaive continued. “I guess we’re going to have to wait and see.”
Vaive, 65, dealt with his own captaincy transitions as a member of the Leafs in the 1980s. After taking over as captain from Darryl Sittler in 1982, Vaive was stripped of the ‘C’ midway through the 1985-86 season after missing a team practice and was traded to Chicago soon thereafter.
“It was incredible, really,” Vaive said on Tuesday, speaking about his time as captain. “Unfortunately, we had Harold Ballard, so that wasn’t great. But, aside from that, we had good players, we had good people in the room, and at the end of the day it was a great experience for me. It taught me a lot.”
A first-round pick (No. 5 overall) of the Vancouver Canucks in 1979, Vaive skated in just 47 games with the Canucks before being traded to Toronto alongside Bill Derlago in exchange for Tiger Williams and Jerry Butler. Vaive subsequently emerged as a superstar forward over his eight seasons in Toronto, although the Leafs experienced only moderate playoff success during his tenure.
Vaive became the first 50-goal scorer in Leafs history when he potted 54 in 77 games with the club during the 1981-82 season. The Ottawa product added 51 goals in 1982-83 and 52 in 1983-84, firmly cementing himself as the greatest goal-scorer in Leafs history — at least, until Matthews came along.
Matthews set a new Leafs record with 60 goals in the 2021-22 season and surpassed it this past spring with 69 goals in 81 games in the 2023-24 campaign. Vaive still holds the record for most 50-goal seasons with the Leafs, but Matthews has the only two 60-goal seasons in franchise history.
Now, Matthews is set to embark upon a new chapter in his journey with the Leafs. Last Wednesday, he was officially named the 26th captain in club history, taking over from Tavares, who had held the position since 2019. Matthews is the Leafs’ first American-born captain and the first non-Canadian to serve in that capacity since Mats Sundin.
