Since Dion Phaneuf was traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2016, the Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to name a captain.

In recent weeks, the discussion over who will be the next Toronto Maple Leafs captain has picked up steam with the selection seemingly narrowed down to either John Tavares or Auston Matthews.

If you want to go with the idea that the best player should always be the captain, then they are the obvious choices.

While these two are definitely good candidates, I think Morgan Rielly should also be in consideration to become the next captain of the Leafs.

The reasoning

In five NHL seasons, Morgan Rielly has recorded 31 goals, 140 assists, and 171 points, making him the 15th highest scoring defenseman in franchise history according to Quanthockey.com.

This past year saw Rielly reach career bests in assists (46) and points (52). He was one of only16 50 point defenseman in the NHL, and one of only three to record 50 points and a positive relative corsi while playing top competition (along with Hedman and Doughty).

Additionally, Rielly is the third longest-serving active Leaf, currently at 388 games played according to NHL.com, behind only Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner.

If you watched the Road to the Winter Classic, or have ever seen Rielly in front of a microphone, it’s clear that he’s a great choice for captain, as he’s clearly already established a leadership role within the team.

How it could help the team

Perhaps the most valuable benefit of Rielly potentially being the captain is that it would help ease some of the pressure off of the Leafs’ top-dogs in Tavares and Matthews.

The recently signed Tavares already faces sky-high expectations, so why burden him further?. Renaud Lavoie told this to Sportsnet 590 The Fan about why it would be better not to name him the captain now:

“There will be a lot of pressure on him. Toronto is not Long Island. So why put a ‘C’ on his jersey? Why put more pressure on him? I don’t see the value in doing that,” said Lavoie.

The same could be said of Auston Matthews. He’s the face of the franchise and already has to deal with the pressure of having to live up to his advanced billing as a ‘generational’ talent who is the best player the Toronto Maple Leafs have ever drafted.

While there have been a few instances of young players becoming team captain quickly (Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid) perhaps Matthew would benefit from not becoming the captain just yet.

The Next Captain

Morgan Rielly has shown a lot of traits that make him a worthy candidate to be the next Leafs captain. As the oldest of the young players, he’s already been sort of the de facto captain for the last few seasons anyway. He’s clearly a part of the core, and he doesn’t face the same kind of expectations that Tavares and Matthews already do, so he is the logical choice if you aren’t determined to just always make the best player the captain.

Rielly’s underlying stats show he is one of the Leafs best players and he has already gained a strong reputation for his leadership abilities. Perhaps most importantly, him being the captain would help ease some of the pressure off of Tavares and Matthews.

If the Leafs are looking to name the 22nd captain in franchise history this year, Rielly should definitely be in serious consideration.

All stats unless otherwise noted are from Hockey-Reference.com.