‘Don’t want that on anyone’

Former Stanley Cup winner Jean-Sebastien Giguere has opined that Auston Matthews becoming the Maple Leafs‘ captain was the wrong move.

Matthews is currently facing one of the worst slumps of his career, going goalless in 12 games. Not only is he in a tough stretch personally, but the Maple Leafs are struggling overall, going winless in their last eight games since returning from the 2026 Winter Olympics break.

Appearing on a recent edition of Leafs Morning Take with host Jay Rosehill, Jean-Sebastien Giguere said:

“I’m seeing a guy that has a lot of pressure. I think maybe giving him the C probably wasn’t the right idea. I don’t know—it’s a tough market to be the captain. I don’t wish that on anybody. And I think, you know, the success of the team weighs on him a lot more than him personally. But if you have both of them together, it just looks like a guy that’s not having fun, not inspiring anybody else either.

He added:

“So maybe he needs a change, but maybe he also needs help. Maybe he needs people to come and help him out and take away some of that pressure of being the leader of that team. Being a captain of the Maple Leafs requires a lot of other things that maybe he’s not comfortable with.”

With each game passing, the pressure is mounting on Auston Matthews to deliver as the Maple Leafs’ captain. The team (27-27-11, 65 points) sits well out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, with its odds of making the postseason now effectively zero and 17 games remaining in the regular season.

Auston Matthews opens up about the Maple Leafs’ failure to make playoffs this season

Auston Matthews recently spoke realistically about the Maple Leafs’ failure to make the Stanley Cup playoffs this season, acknowledging that teams can miss the playoffs in a given year but rebound the next:

“I remember Lightning missed the playoffs one year (16-17) & then the next year they’re back at the top of the division, competing. Boston this year, had a down year & same thing, like, they’re in the mix. You know, sometimes it happens,” he said.

Matthews has accumulated 52 points through 26 goals and as many assists in 59 games this season. Meanwhile, the Leafs host the Anaheim Ducks at Scotiabank Arena next on Thursday.