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Brendan Shanahan on naming Auston Matthews captain: “This is such a selfless move by John Tavares… He saw and understood it as well as we did — the time was right”

How have you seen Auston Matthews grow as a leader since he joined the team?

Shanahan: As a lot of people have stated, he came in game one as a very talented young individual, but you see him as an 18-year-old through to where he has evolved throughout the years and taken steps with his growth and maturity on and off the ice. His game has matured.

It is the kind of thing you hope and expect when you draft a player of that talent — that they will continue to improve. When a guy scores four goals in his first game and you see improvement from him from there on and off the ice, it has been good to see.