Don't expect Canucks to pick a new captain anytime soon
Eight NHL teams are currently without a captain for next season, though many of them will likely pick someone to wear the C.
Will the Vancouver Canucks be one of them? They’ve been without a captain for over nine months, following the trade of Quinn Hughes.
Previous Canucks management appeared to be laying the groundwork for Filip Hronek to be the choice. The new regime doesn’t seem so certain, though.
That’s not a knock on Hronek. He was their best player last season, and he’ll surely be part of the leadership group going forward.
Canucks management hasn’t said they won’t pick a captain, and maybe someone will emerge before the puck drops on opening night. But they’re already running out of time.
The Canucks have just two practice days before their first preseason game Saturday in Seattle. There are just four preseason games on the schedule before the puck drops on the regular season Sept. 29.
“We’re in no rush to hand out letters just for the sake of putting a letter on somebody,” new Canucks coach Manny Malhotra told reporters at Rogers Arena on Wednesday. “We’ve talked about it earlier in the summer that the leaders of this group will emerge when the time is right. That’s going to play out over the next few weeks to see who takes hold of that type of role, and we see who the guys want to follow. But we’re not in any rush to put A’s and C’s on guys. When it happens, it happens.”
Reading between the lines, it doesn’t sound like they’re eager to put the pressure of the C on anyone just yet. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see who Malhotra picks to wear letters.
Hronek, Elias Pettersson, and Brock Boeser each wore As last season. Will that continue?
Pettersson, in particular, will be a fascinating decision. He hasn’t exactly embraced a leadership role in the past, but is it a slap in the face to strip him of the A?
They’ve brought in veterans like Brendan Gallagher and Luke Schenn for leadership purposes. Should they formalize either of those roles with a letter?
If the Canucks do go without a captain next season, it wouldn’t be unprecedented. After the Sedins retired, the team went with four alternate captains (Bo Horvat, Alex Edler, Chris Tanev, and Brandon Sutter) in 2018-19.
Similarly, after Stan Smyl retired, the team didn’t burden one player with the C in 1990-91, as Trevor Linden, Doug Lidster, and Dan Quinn took turns wearing it.
The team was waiting for a young player to emerge in both of those cases, and it worked out perfectly, with Linden being named captain at age 21 and Horvat getting the C at age 24.
It’s probably a little soon for 20-year-old Zeev Buium to be named captain, but hey, you never know.