Earlier this offseason the Toronto Maple Leafs named Auston Matthews the 26th captain in franchise history. Desperate for major changes, management felt it was the perfect time to give Matthews the keys. Former captain John Tavares was also very supportive of the decision to step into a new role and let Matthews lead the Leafs.

Heading into the 2024-25 season, the Matthews-era begins. The switch made a ton of sense for a magnitude of reasons and received praise from several people around the league, including as recent as Thursday from Edmonton Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid.

McDavid, who knows Matthews very well and has a great understanding of the pressure of playing in Toronto, thinks the Maple Leafs made the perfect choice handing over the ‘C’. “First and foremost, he’s an amazing player, great player, but he’s a great person, highly intelligent, loves the game, loves the Leafs. I think he’s a great captain,” McDavid told Sportsnet.

Matthews and McDavid became fast friends after suiting up together in 2016 representing Team North America at the World Cup and have since spent parts of their offseasons training together throughout the past eight years. The two superstars have skated together numerous times in Arizona throughout the summer months and this offseason took their talents overseas to Germany and practiced together for multiple days.

It’s a case where the best want to learn from the best and they’ve become trainer partners to help push each other to new heights. While McDavid was one game away from winning the Stanley Cup last season, Matthews will try to lead by example and push his Maple Leafs over the hump and into a deep playoff run.

As for head-to-head bragging rights, Matthews has the upper-hand as the Maple Leafs own a 12-4-2 record against McDavid’s Oilers. Meanwhile, McDavid would likely remind Matthews rather quickly that he hasn’t played a game with the Stanley Cup in the house.

The two teams will suit up on Hockey Night in Canada Nov.16 when Edmonton visits Toronto for their first matchup of the 2024-25 season.