Auston Matthews Tried Recruiting Drew Doughty At The All-Star Game; Make Him Captain Already

Shug McSween Jan 29, 2018

As All-Star weekend concludes in Tampa, the Maple Leafs will look to continue their mini winning streak and keep rolling into the second half. And even though a lot of the focus is on getting further in the playoffs in 2018, Auston Matthews took a few minutes to think about two seasons from now.

He made sure to share with Drew Doughty.

Ah-may-zing. Auston Matthews is a leader, knew it, see it, and want some more of it. He leads the score sheet frequency list, he leads in the least amount of trips to the sin bin, and now he leads in recruiting the best of the best to the big city. For a 20-year-old, the kid has built his own path from the jump. He’s got character well beyond his years and now he’s trying to make some serious connections throughout the show.

Drew Doughty started the chatter months ago with his round of interviews discussing his future in La La Land so he’s the perfect target, and he also would be a wonderful fit for the Maple Leafs blue line. He would be a wonderful fit on all of the blue lines.

Have to give all the credit to Auston Matthews who isn’t shy. The kid’s makeup on and off the ice is a finely tuned machine. It also consists of a little bit of the “I don’t give a shit” attribute that all the greats seem to possess. And, if the Leafs were able to cash in on Matthews’ hard work and sign Doughty, the recipe for a dynasty would be closer than you think. Let’s ensure to pump the brakes, sure, but depending on the results of the next two seasons, the Leafs are already amongst the elite of the league and they could easily continue to climb.

Predicting lineups 2 years from now is pointless but having a combo of an evolving Morgan Rielly and Drew Doughty at the top of your chart certainly stacks up against any other team in the league. Their playing styles would compliment each other and if you throw in Dermott, Liljegren, Zaitsev and the better half of Jake Gardiner, defence mobility could easily become a strength, for a team who already has many.

Matthews and the buds are just getting started. The team is young, it’s well constructed and if Matthews keeps recruiting, it could continue in it’s battle to shake the curse of ’67. Matthews won’t need to chat with everyone he wants on his squad, his play will do plenty of that for him, but the fact he took some time to chirp Doughty is a wonderful sign for the chances of this situation eventually presenting itself.

Auston Matthews is going to be named the next captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and if he has his way, he’s going to load up the team with some of the best in the business. Drew Doughty was the first player to be pubically recruited by #34, and who knows who will be the next.

What we do know is Matthews has some serious firepower in his corner, as months ago Mats Sundin was quoted supporting the choice of Matthews for the next captain of the Leafs. Sundin mentioned in an interview with Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star, “In my book, he’s obviously the right person to be captain, no doubt about that. He leads on the ice and you can tell he’s a good man off the ice.”

Matthews has Sundin’s approval for the next captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs and he certainly has mine.

Drew Doughty, any thoughts?

Shug McSween

Shug McSween is a veteran here at DeanBlundell.com and has been contributing since day one. A sports nut with a sophisticated opinion, expect McSween to cover any and everything he's passionate about. When he's not busy writing and editing for our crew, McSween likes to get away via fairways and greens. He also contributes to The Hockey Writers, NHLTradeRumors.me and BballRumors.com

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