Elias Pettersson should be the next Captain of the Vancouver Canucks

[Jay Cee]

I agree. He is so much better than anyone on the team, he is solid in his own zone and really leads the team on the ice, which is really all that matters. I would be really interested in someone polling it. Though I suspect people just mostly have a preconceived notion for a few years now that Horvat is captain in waiting...

 

[Ainec]

"Use your head... "

You are downright wrong about this. Its not that big of a deal.

smh can't even prove your point




didn't Elias Pettersson show up on the 2nd day of the draft and tried to learn about our picks? Captain

 

[WestCoast CyberG]

When every player on the team already looks up to EP, including Bo, you have your answer as to who the captain is.

I am a huge fan of Bo and his leadership qualities so if he ends up with the "C" it is still a good choice, but for me the captain should be your defacto alpha dog and that is EP currently.

 

[clay]

I agree he should be captain. Best player on the team by a mile, great team guy, and doesn't spit out fluff in his interviews.

 

[lousy]

When every player on the team already looks up to EP, including Bo, you have your answer as to who the captain is.

I am a huge fan of Bo and his leadership qualities so if he ends up with the "C" it is still a good choice, but for me the captain should be your defacto alpha dog and that is EP currently.

While EP may be the best player on the team, that does not make him the best captain. We truly do not know his off ice personality very well or what he would be comfortable with. I am not saying he is not a great teammate or a professional. But leadership qualities, along with all the extra duties a captain takes on off the ice, is very different than being an amazing player on the ice.

 

[DownGoesMcDavid]

Bo solidifed it to me that hes the heart and soul leader of this team when he tried to Matheson.

 

[DownGoesMcDavid]

Nothing against EP40 but hes too young and raw to be captain.

He doesnt really know about life in the NHL.

Cant blame him tho hes young.

Ive seen a ton of interview from him where he says his most favorite thing to do outside of hockey is play video games and talk to his friends at home. In other words he still gets home sick. Hes not fully adjusted to life in North America yet....why would we put the Captaincy responsibilities on someone that is clearly still transitiong.

Bo checks every box.

If BO was to ever get traded 5-6 yrs doen the line then i definitely see EP as a leading candidate to replace him.

 

[VancouverJagger]

Disagree completely. Let Bo do the heavy lifting on this. The media pisses Pettersson off............why subject him to more of that?

Let him have an A..........Bo is perfectly suited to this role atm. Perhaps eventually EP will grow into this but for now I def. would put this on Bo next year.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

smh can't even prove your point




didn't Elias Pettersson show up on the 2nd day of the draft and tried to learn about our picks? Captain

Stop the name calling. You made a mistake on your assumption. Its ok to admit your mistakes.

 

[Ainec]

Stop the name calling. You made a mistake on your assumption. Its ok to admit your mistakes.

where was the name calling?

so I just learned that asking a guy to explain his lack of proof, is name calling

nice !

 

[PuckMunchkin]

where was the name calling?

so I just learned that asking a guy to explain his lack of proof, is name calling

nice !

Oh boy... Thanks for the chat.

 

[Balls Mahoney]

Bo Horvat should be captain. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from Naslund.

 

[DonnyNucker]

Bo solidifed it to me that hes the heart and soul leader of this team when he tried to Matheson.

Bo is the leader and should be the captain. He is a warrior and has been looked up to for years. EP, at least so far, hasn’t been very durable. Your captain should be a warrior and a vocal leader in the room. That’s Bo, not EP. let Elias focus on alien things and not on the media and trying to reinvent his personality. Hand him an A

 

[Snatcher Demko]

I've thought about this too. If EP is far and away the best player on the team, then perhaps he should be captain.

But Horvat does everything and so perhaps suits the role better.

All things considered I'd stick with Horvat primarily because it will result in a bit less pressure on EP. Elias will already have the weight of the fan's hopes along with the franchise's dark history on his shoulders.

That said leadership will continue to evolve with this group and it can't and won't be one guy.

 

[racerjoe]

I said it when the talk was Horvat should be Captain and I will say it again now. No one here knows anything. We don’t know who the leaders in the room really are.

The captain should be the leader both on ice, and OFF ice and we don’t see what happens behind closed doors.

 

[Seattle Totems]

Chicago = Toews. Kane is best player.
Los Angles = Kopitar. Doughty is the best player.
Detroit = Yzerman. Lidstrom and Federov were best players.
Colorado = Sakic. Forsberg = best player
New Jersey = Stevens. Brodeur + Niedermayer = best players.
Dallas = Derian Hatcher. Modano = best player.

Kane = immature with highly publicized off ice issues. Not captain material
Doughty = often classless and a pest. No comparison to Kopitar
Yzerman was in Detroit a full 8 years before Lidstrom, who accepted the Captaincy in 2006.
Federov = not captain material
Sakic debuted in 88/89 in Quebec and is a hall of fame player Forsberg debuted in 94/95 also HHOF
Scott Stevens is a HHOF member. He was 9 years older and twice the player of Niedermeyer when they started with the Devils. Playoff warrior. Obvious choice for captain. Brodeur is goalie for Pete's sake. Cmon.
Dallas = not sure why Modano wasn't named Captain until 2006. He's the Stars franchise HHOF player. Hatcher was not on the same level.

Bure = do we really need to explain why he was never captain material?

 

[DonnyNucker]

I said it when the talk was Horvat should be Captain and I will say it again now. No one here knows anything. We don’t know who the leaders in the room really are.

The captain should be the leader both on ice, and OFF ice and we don’t see what happens behind closed doors.

I asked Tanev two years ago (when the sedins were here) who the leader of the team was. He replied Bo. I don’t think it matters if EP is the best player. Your captain doesn’t have to be your best player they have to be your best leader (and also a strong player).

 

[Shareefruck]

I think Pettersson has all the qualities to be a great captain. In fact, on a positive note, we're really lucky to have three forwards who are all prime captain material.

However, my one major hesitation with giving Pettersson captaincy when Horvat is available, especially at this juncture, is that I'm just not sure how tight he really is with the team this early. He has the right attitude and maturity for himself, but is he the one holding everyone else accountable, or is Horvat? I'm guessing the latter. The team is clearly in awe of his skill and respect him on that level, but I don't think that alone is enough evidence. On top of that, he's only been here half a year and we've already had two incidents where he was targeted and the team's response was a complete joke-- they did not have his back at all. The optics of that would be multiplied ten-fold if he was also the captain and that happened.

Also, it makes no sense to hesitate about giving Horvat the captain role because he's heavily relied on to play in all situations. It doesn't matter that your captain isn't technically your best player, it only matters that he's one of the most engaged, relied upon, and heavily influential to the team. Which he is, as much as anyone. The team seems to fall apart just as much when Horvat is missing.

 

[Phil McKraken]

I want Boeser to be Captain after watching building Brock. He's gone through alot in life, handles situations with so much class, seems to be easy going and approachable. While Bo and Elias appear to be too serious and bit stressed out at times. With Bo and Elias they sometimes get upset too easily when they make a mistakes while Brock is less likely to let mistakes bother him as he knows he probably won't make the same mistake again. These are just my observations from watching them play but I haven't watched all their games so I might be wrong.

I was just about to mention something similar. It's apparent by their body language that both EP and Horvat can get pretty moody when things don't go their way, while Boeser seems more calm and even-keeled.

 

[rypper]

I still think it should and will be Bo, but you could definitely make a case for Pettersson. Especially with a lot of the articles coming out about the positive impact he's having on guys with his work ethic and play. But that being said, I still see Bo as the heart and engine of the team. He's earned it.

Plus is there any way they could give the captaincy to another player and not completely alienate the relationship with Horvat now? I mean him being the next captain seems like a forgone conclusion to everyone.

 

[Seattle Totems]

List of generational and "next one" NHL players

Howe
Orr
Gretzky
Lemieux
Jagr
Lindros
Ovechkin
Crosby
Karlsson
McDavid

Only Orr was not captain and only because he did not want to be captain.

Pettersson's ceiling is that of the best player in Canucks history. Without question he should eventually be named captain based on that and his competitiveness. Any other team in the league would do the same.

 

[Wilch]

Unnecessary stress for Pettersson unless he's already capable of managing some not-so-fun people issues, which isn't exactly a trait commonly found in younger people. The whole leading by example thing can be done with or without a C on his jersey.

 

[Ainec]

I bet if Giordano retires the captaincy will go to someone like Monahan, who is on Horvat's level rather than Johnny Hockey

That said, the trend seems to be the best player on the team being captain unless they have character issues or shy. Aho, Barkov, Larkin, McDavid, Eichel, Dubois etc

 

[Slapshot_11]

It belongs to Horvat. Horvat +EP is our Toews+Kane.

EP doesnt like the media

 

[Ainec]

It belongs to Horvat. Horvat +EP is our Toews+Kane.

EP doesnt like the media

Kane has maturity issues and is a winger.

Roxy, cab beating, etc