Huberdeau among group to be alternate captains for Flames this season
No, there isn’t a new captain for the Calgary Flames.Ā
But there were certainly some letters handed out to new recipients as the Flames enter action into the 2022-23 season.Ā
Some new recipients, too.Ā
Jonathan Huberdeau, who joined the team in the summer blockbuster swap that saw he and MacKenzie Weegar along with prospect Cole Schwindt and a conditional first round pick brought in from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Matthew Tkachuk, will be an alternate captain for the Flames this season.Ā
Huberdeau, who signed an eight-year extension in August, is expected to wear a letter for the first time when the Flames play the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Saturday.Ā
He was an alternate for four seasons with the Panthers.
Mikael Backlund, Christopher Tanev, and Elias Lindholm will also wear letters this season. Each was an alternate in Calgary’s season-opener, a 5-3 win against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche at the Saddledome on Thursday.Ā
“In order for our team to take a step this year, I’ve said it lots, the 23-to-29 age group has to be better players than they were last year and a part of that is leadership,” head coach Darryl Sutter told media Saturday. “Lindy is in that group. We prefer that leadership comes out of that group. Lindy and Johnny will both be alternate captains this year.”
Backlund is the longest tenured member of the Flames.Ā
He tied former captain Mark Giordano for the second-most seasons competed with the club at 15 when he skated in the season opener, and trails franchise-leader Jarome Iginla by one. The 33-year-old, plucked by Calgary in the first round (No. 24) of the 2007 NHL Draft, is third all-time behind Giordano (949) and Iginla (1,219) in games played with 827.Ā
Lindholm has logged 290 career skates with the Flames after joining the club alongside Noah Hanifin in the summer of 2018, and Tanev is entering his third season with the Flames.Ā
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