Captaincy questions: Rielly disagrees with Tavares on state of Leafs

At the start of locker room cleanout day, Leafs captain John Tavares stated that the team is "right there". This is a sentiment that is not shared by Morgan Rielly.

Rielly was under no misconceptions about what the Leafs left on the table in Game 7, blowing a golden opportunity to beat the Bruins in regulation after William Nylander opened the scoring in the 3rd period. Unfortunately, when the Leafs surrendered the lead and gave the Bruins second life just 1:21 later, it became very clear that this team isn't as prepared to go deep as many thought when they had erased a 3-1 deficit to force Game 7.

It was David Pastrnak who played the spoiler in overtime, burying the Leafs early in the extra frame, which set up today's locker room cleanout day. Rielly was asked just how close he thinks the team is to taking that next step and becoming a bona-fide Stanley Cup contender. His response was very different from his captain's.




Rielly's disagreement with Tavares has some wondering if a change in captaincy is needed for this franchise. Tavares is certainly getting up there in age, turning 34 this summer. His best days are quite certainly behind him, but a team's captain is not always that team's best player. If that was the case, Auston Matthews would be a shoo-in to wear the C.

Sometimes, the best guy to wear the C on his sweater is the guy who sends the best message to the group. Today, Rielly exhibited true leadership when he was honest with himself and with the media about where this team is. The truth of the matter is that when the same core continues to be bounced early in the playoffs, they're not as close as they think they are to contending for a Cup.

In my mind, Rielly should be wearing the C for the Leafs next season. Whether or not that happens, though, is another discussion for another day.