TORONTO -- John Tavares was named captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs before the season opener against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.
The center, who started his second season with Toronto after signing as a free agent July 1, 2018, was captain of the New York Islanders for five seasons (2013-18). The Maple Leafs had not had a captain since defenseman Dion Phaneuf was traded to the Senators on Feb. 9, 2016.
"It's hard to say if (the captaincy) will have an effect on the ice, but there's obviously a special significance with the Maple Leafs, the city, the franchise with the captain," Tavares said last week. "It's obviously been an important role in hockey history and with many franchises. Many great captains, great leaders."
Tavares grew up a Maple Leafs fan in Mississauga, Ontario, about 17 miles west of Toronto, and had an NHL career-high 88 points (47 goals, 41 assists) in 82 games last season.
Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said last week he feels Tavares has the type of lead-by-example qualities that unifies his teammates.
"He's a pro," Babcock said. "So his approach in the offseason, his approach in how he eats, the approach in how he drinks, the approach how he treats his family, the approach that he just is ...
"Leadership to me isn't what you say, it's what you do. When you pick a captain for a franchise you want everyone in the franchise to think they picked the captain and when you pick the right captain everyone thinks that."
Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly were named alternate captains. They were announced following the pregame introductions of their teammates, and Tavares was announced last, entering the ice to a standing ovation.
Tavares was asked questions relating to the captaincy throughout training camp and his answer always had the same theme: It would be a privilege to be the captain of the Maple Leafs, like Doug Gilmour, Wendel Clark and Darryl Sittler.
The 29-year-old is the 25th captain in Toronto history.
"Just try and get a sense of things and how to handle the group and communicate certain things to the coaching staff and management," Tavares said Saturday. "Talking to the media, setting the bus time, it's not really overly a lot, it's stuff you already have a pulse on, spearheading it a lot more than you usually would, I guess. So it's not all of a sudden you got 10 more things on your plate. I think it's just kind of being aware of everything that's going on around the group."
Marner said Tavares' time as Islanders captain gives him some valuable experience.
"He's led in New York, he knows what it takes to take it past the first round (of the Stanley Cup Playoffs)," Marner said Saturday. "As a group, we look up to him. ... When he speaks everyone listens."
Five NHL teams do not have a captain: the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights.
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