Report: Tavares and Matthews briefed on captaincy plans

The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to announce their next captain ahead of tonight’s season opener against the Ottawa Senators. 

Leafs head coach Mike Babcock was a guest on TSN’s That’s Hockey yesterday and he confirmed “100%” that the Leafs will have a captain on the ice tonight, but… will it be John Tavares?

Oh, Babs…

Tavares is the frontrunner to receive the “C” in most people’s eyes, but there’s a lot of support for Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly and Mitch Marner, as well.

So… who’s it going to be? 

For what it’s worth, both Tavares and Matthews confirmed that they’ve been “briefed” by management on tonight’s announcement. Neither Rielly, nor Marner made such statements however.

Check it out:

Further to that, Matthews himself had a very different answer than Tavares or Rielly when asked about tonight’s announcement. 

Check it out: