Auston Matthews has made a career-changing decision

Auston Matthews' resurgence on the ice has been stellar but it's off the ice where he's improved the most, cementing himself as the leader of the Maple Leafs.

A lot can be said about how Auston Matthews has turned around the last two seasons in almost a blink of an eye. He looks healthy, his shot is back in full-force, and you can tell how much this season means to him, gauging by his reactions to several goals this year.

He leads the team in points with 23, goals with 10, and has looked as dangerous as we've ever seen him.

Already putting up better consistency in a month than he did in two years with Craig Berube, Matthews has shown exactly why he was so dangerous only a short time ago.

Auston Matthews biggest improvement was becoming a true leader

But it's what he's doing off the ice that's drawing a lot more attention, as he's getting noticed for his ability to lead by example and starting to be a lot more vocal especially when it comes to accountability.

Sportsnet's Sam McKee commented recently on what he believes has been the catalyst for the change, but he immediately noticed a more engaged and enthusiastic captain:

What's jumped out to me this year isn't even an on-ice thing. He seems to have taken a massive leap as a captain. I'm not sure what to attribute this to. Maybe it's former captain Mats Sundin entering the fray, but Matthews' change in tone has been stark.

When Cowan was hard on himself after the Calgary loss, Matthews went out of his way to shift the blame to himself and talk about winning and losing as a team.

But it was not only the direct transparency that caught McKee off guard, but also the fact that it's a philosophy that we wouldn't have seen in years past - and that matters:

I'm not sure we would have seen that in years past and that stuff matters to fans. The post-game tone for the past decade has been a huge sticking point with Leafs Nation. Accountability goes a long way with this fanbase.

No kidding. Fans for years have just wanted some semblance of accountability but were often treated to soundbites that mentioned 'too many passengers' or pointing the finger elsewhere.

The front office overhaul has a lot to do with Matthews' new attitude

This change is something that was necessary in order to rebuild fan trust in the club after two years of failed promises and terrible trades.

Not only are there new people with serious investment in the club and how they conduct themselves, but the team has also done pretty much everything in their power short of winning the Cup to prove to Matthews he should stay.

There was a lot of debate over whether or not Matthews would buy in to all these changes considering he wanted to see major improvements.

While the team isn't perfect, they did add pieces like Jack Roslovic and Darren Raddysh who are meant to help Matthews offensively, and added the right pieces to ease his defensive workload.

It's why Matthews is much more passionate this season. It feels like instead of playing for their paycheck, they're playing for each other. Whatever kick started Matthews though? It's a breath of fresh air.

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