Toronto Maple Leafs: Re-Evaluating the NHL’s Choice of Captains
After three seasons without a captain, the Toronto Maple Leafs finally rewarded the ‘C’ to John Tavares at the beginning of the 2019-20 season.
For three seasons, one of the biggest news stories of the off-season was: “Who’s Going to Be the Next Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs?
With a crop of young talent, there were plenty of people in the Leafs’ dressing room that seemed qualified for the Leafs captaincy.
Whether it was Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews or Morgan Rielly; you can make a case for either one of them to be the next leader.
But then, John Tavares showed up.
The hometown kid actually came home.
In one of the biggest free agent signings in NHL history, Tavares left New York and decided to play for his favorite team growing up. Leafs’ fans couldn’t believe that Tavares wanted to come to home and try to win a Stanley Cup in Toronto.
For the last 30 years, every time a local kid comes home, it seems like they’re past their prime and only have a limited window to win: ie, Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts.
Tavares signed a seven-year ticket that will keep him here until 2025, as he attempts to bring a cup home for the first time since 1967.
Although Tavares is the local-boy and has been a previous captain in the NHL, it’s been proven over the last year that Matthews is the face of the franchise. He’s one of the top-five best players in the NHL and when he doesn’t play well, neither does the team.
He’s also not afraid to show his personality off the ice, so you’d think that a Matthews’ captaincy may make sense over Tavares?
Funny enough, there are a lot of NHL examples where they may have the wrong captain.
Let’s look at all 31 teams to see who made the right choice at captain and who didn’t, starting with the Central Division.
Chicago Blackhawks:
Actual Captain: Jonathan Toews
Right Captain: Jonathan Toews
There’s arguably no better leader than Toews for the last 10 years. I mean, even Entrepreneur.com wrote an article about him titled “7 Leadership Qualities of a True Champion.”
Colorado Avalanche – Gabriel Landeskog
Actual Captain: Gabriel Landeskog
Right Captain: Nathan MacKinnon
For someone who is so close with Sidney Crosby and has continued to learn from him every off-season, MacKinnon is the becoming the leader of the Colorado Avalanche and the captaincy should be his for the taking.
Dallas Stars
Actual Captain: Jamie Benn
Right Captain: Jamie Benn
It’s really only between Benn and Tyler Seguin as the two offensive leaders in Dallas and unfortunately Seguin’s maturity issues haven’t made him an eligible captain, so Benn’s the easy choice here.
Minnesota Wild
Actual Captain: Mikko Koivu
Right Captain: Eric Staal
With leadership skills intact as the former captain of the Carolina Hurricanes, Staal has rejuvenated his career in Minnesota and deserves to wear the “C” again.
Nashville Predators
Actual Captain: Roman Josi
Right Captain: Roman Josi
After so many years of Shea Weber it was tough to find another defenseman like Weber’s presence, but Josi has been and is the perfect replacement.
St. Louis Blues
Actual Captain: Alex Pietrangelo
Right Captain: Ryan O’Reilly
Pietrangelo will be on the Toronto Maple Leafs next year anyways (haha), so why not speed up the process and name O’Reilly as his replacement? O’Reilly has been the captain or alternate captain everywhere he’s played, so it’s finally his time to become a captain in the NHL.
Winnipeg Jets
Actual Captain: Blake Wheeler
Right Captain: Blake Wheeler
One of the most underrated players and leaders in the NHL. On a team filled with young stars like Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, Wheeler is a perfect veteran captain in the Jets’ dressing room.
Anaheim Ducks
Actual Captain: Ryan Getzlaf
Right Captain: Ryan Getzlaf
When you think of the Ducks, the first name to come to mind is Getzlaf’s. As the only member from the 2007 Stanley Cup champion Ducks’ team, Getzlaf is the face and leader of the team.
Arizona Coyotes
Actual Captain: Oliver Ekmann-Larsson
Right Captain: Phil Kessel Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Really wanted to pick Kessel here, but Ekman-Larsson is the right choice. Coyotes G.M. John Chayka said it best when they resigned him in 2008.
”He’s a special player and person and we want to build our team around him. You can’t win in this League without a star, elite defenseman and we’re fortunate to have that in OEL. We look forward to many years ahead with him as our leader on and off the ice.”
Calgary Flames
Actual Captain: Mark Giordano
Right Captain: Matthew Tkachuk
Giordano is a great player and leader but the future of the Flames is through Tkachuk. Leadership and captaincy is in his blood as well, as his father Keith is a two-time captain in the NHL.
Edmonton Oilers
Actual Captain: Connor McDavid
Right Captain: Connor McDavid
It’s obviously McDavid. Next.
Los Angels Kings
Actual Captain: Anze Kopitar
Right Captain: Anze Kopitar
You have to be a special player to take the captaincy away from a current player who’s been the teams captain for two Stanley Cups and that’s exactly what Koptiar did to Dustin Brown. Currently in a rebuild, Kopitar is the perfect leader to help the Kings get back to glory.
San Jose Sharks
Actual Captain: Logan Couture
Right Captain: Brent Burns
Couture is a solid player but doesn’t seem right as the captain in San Jose. Just look at Burns’ face. This man deserves to be the captain of the Sharks.
Vancouver Canucks
Actual Captain: Bo Horvat
Right Captain: Bo Horvat
At 25-years-old, Horvat is the veteran in the Canucks dressing room. Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes may be the future, but Horvat is a player who’s been through tough times in Vancouver and a deserving leader.
Vegas Golden Knights
Actual Captain: Vacant
Right Captain: Mark Stone
Vegas is the first of four teams that currently don’t have a captain. Maybe that’s why they never won the Stanley Cup in this inaugural season because who’s going to lift the Cup first if you don’t have a captain?
Regardless, after recently signing an eight-year contract extension, 28-year-old Stone’s going to be in Vegas for a while and has a ton of leadership experience that makes him perfect to become the teams first ever captain.
Carolina Hurricanes
Actual Captain: Jordan Staal
Right Captain: Sebastian Aho
Sometimes your best player just needs to be your captain, and that’s exactly where Aho fits in. Staal has Stanley Cup experience but if he ever wants to win another Cup, he’ll have to do it riding Aho’s coattails.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Actual Captain: Nick Foligno
Right Captain: Pierre-Luc Dubois
Hockey is Foligno’s blood as his father and brother are current/former NHLers. However, Foligno’s captaincy came at a time when the Blue Jackets weren’t expected to be a playoff team every year and before they drafted a few young studs. With a solid young core, Dubois has become the franchise’s best player and a leader that makes him deserving of being the captain.
Philadelphia Flyers
Actual Captain: Claude Giroux
Right Captain: Claude Giroux
Since 2007, Giroux has been through the highs and lows in Philadelphia. As a quiet leader, Giroux lets his play do the talking and James van Riemsdyk explained it perfectly in an article with The Philadelphia Inquiry in December, 2019.
“It’s hard to pinpoint one specific thing, but you can tell there are certain people that when you’re down by a goal or whatever it might be, he wants the puck on his stick, and he wants to be the guy to make the play. That’s the way that he leads. He wants to go out there and show it in those big moments.”
Pittsburgh Penguins
Actual Captain: Sidney Crosby
Right Captain: Sidney Crosby
There aren’t enough words to describe how good Crosby is and how much of a leader he has been for Pittsburgh and Team Canada. Stanley Cups or Olympic Gold Medals, Crosby always delivers as the leader of every team he’s ever played for.
New York Islanders
Actual Captain: Anders Lee
Right Captain: Anders Lee
After John Tavares left, the Islanders had huge leadership void in the dressing room. But according to Barry Trotz, Lee was a no-brainer for that role, so I’ll trust that decision.
“When I first got the opportunity to coach the Islanders, we talked to every player. It was clear as day to me that Anders would be the fifteenth captain of the Islanders.”
New York Rangers
Actual Captain: Vacant
Right Captain: Chris Kreider
Being named the captain of the New York Rangers is a special ordeal. After signing a seven-year extension, Kreider’s on pace to be a Ranger for life and is deserving of that honor. According to a few Rangers, Kreider has been a great mentor to the young players on the team which is a perfect example of a deserving captain.
New Jersey Devils
Actual Captain: Vacant
Right Captain: Jack Hughes
It’s been a tough season for a New Jersey Devils team that many picked to make the playoffs. First overall pick Hughes, was looked at to be a difference maker in his rookie season but that hasn’t happened yet. There is still a ton of potential for Hughes though and if the team will ever get back to a Stanley Cup Finals, they’ll have to do with Hughes’ leadership.
Washington Capitals
Actual Captain: Alex Ovechkin
Right Captain: Alex Ovechkin
I can’t imagine another player lifting the Cup first on Washington besides Ovechkin. He leads by example in every category and will the Captials captain until he retires.
Boston Bruins
Actual Captain: Zdeno Chara
Right Captain: Patrice Bergeron
There’s no more deserving player to be captain that isn’t one in the NHL. The only reason he’s not is because his team has Chara, who is the definition of a leader. Although Chara will be the captain for the Bruins until he retires, Bergeron deserves the “C” before his career is finished.
Buffalo Sabres
Actual Captain: Jack Eichel
Right Captain: Jack Eichel
When you think of the Sabres, you think of Eichel. Although his team hasn’t been successful during his tenure in Buffalo, the only way the team will ever make it back to the playoffs will be on Eichel’s back.
Detroit Red Wings
Actual Captain: Vacant
Right Captain: Dylan Larkin
I would have assumed that Larkin was already the Red Wings’ captain but since Henrik Zetterberg retired, the team’s captaincy has been vacant. Since 1986, the team has only named three captains, so it makes sense that they’re taking their time to name one, but Larkin is the next logical choice and he’s “ready for it.”
Florida Panthers
Actual Captain: Aleksander Barkov
Right Captain: Aleksander Barkov
For a few seasons, Barkov was the most underrated player in the NHL, but now that everyone thinks that way, does that mean he’s overrated? Either way, this quote exemplifies perfectly why Barkov is the right captain for the Panthers.
“He has all of the qualities of a great leader: unrivaled work ethic, wisdom beyond his years and the respect and admiration of his teammates. Aleksander’s determination and passion for the game have made him one of the NHL’s best and most complete players. The time was right for Aleksander to be named the captain of this franchise and I’m certain that he will bring the same high standard of class and dedication to the captaincy that he brings to the rink every single day.”
Montreal Canadiens
Actual Captain: Shea Weber
Right Captain: Shea Weber
As a former captain in Nashville, Weber was and is the perfect captain in Montreal. He’s a leader on-and-off the ice and was even recognized by the NHL winning the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2016.
Ottawa Senators
Actual Captain: Vacant
Right Captain: Brady Tkachuk
For the same reasons we want Matthew Tkachuk to become the captain for Calgary, his brother Brady should be the next captain of the Senators. Leadership is in his blood and for an inexperienced Ottawa team, they need a young leader who can be the face of the franchise for the next decade.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Actual Captain: Steven Stamkos
Right Captain: Steven Stamkos
Stamkos has battled a number of injuries in his career but always comes back stronger than before. A two-time Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy winner, Stamkos is Tampa Bay’s leader in career goals and in a few seasons will be the all-time points leader as well. Having already reached a Stanley Cup Final, you know that Stamkos will give everything he has to get his team a championship before he retires.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Actual Captain: John Tavares
Right Captain: Auston Matthews
Next. Worst Draft Misses of the 80s. dark
Tavares is the quiet-leader who sets an example for the Leafs. He’s not going to cause any issues on-or-off the ice, which is easy to do in a crazy Toronto market. However, Matthews is the face of the franchise and is the best player on the team. In order for the Leafs to win their first Stanley Cup since 1967, it won’t be Tavares who they’ll be relying on every night, but Matthews.