As we learn now that Matthews will be the next Maple Leafs captain, we also have discovered the reason why he was not selected earlier. Matthews was lined up to become the Leafs 25th captain back in 2019. But it was revealed that a legal incident that took place in the off-season at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona was the reason second year Leaf John Tavares was selected instead. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/Leafslatest/status/1823339123899310125'> </a></blockquote></div> As we know, in September of 2019, Matthews at 21 years old faced charges of disorderly conduct and behavior. The Maple Leafs took these charges seriously and decided against giving Matthews the captaincy at that time. It now appears that Matthews has atoned for his discretions, and the Leafs are giving there star player the deserved captaincy, with the approval of Tavares who still has one year left of his no move clause. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/sunhornby/status/1823324658940166419'> </a></blockquote></div> Matthews is set to become the 26th captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs storied franchise. With his troubles behind him, the Leafs and fans look to move forward from the reign of Tavares. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1823132951674040664'> </a></blockquote></div> According to Darren Dreger Tavares was very heavily involved in the decision to make this happen along with Brad Treliving. Tavares is said to fully support the change. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger/status/1823131242553905294'> </a></blockquote></div> Matthews will replace Tavares who as a Leaf, has scored 419 points in 440 games. Prior to his time with the Leafs, Tavares was the captain of the New York Islanders. He has scored 1,040 career points in 1,109 NHL games. It looks like the time has come for Matthews issues in the past to be left there as he is posed to become captain on Wednesday, with the press conference to be at 11am EST.