Good Leaders who weren’t great players.

Gambitman

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Jan 30, 2019
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In general I think of team captains and even assistants as the better players on the team which gives them some instant credibility. Sometimes though a player who is more of a journeyman is elevated to these positions.

For example Bill Houlder, (who although I think is a bit underrated was certainly not a star), was an assistant captain in San Jose and Nashville and a captain in Tampa. Who else were surprising captains?
 

Dave5e

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Oct 25, 2018
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Todd Simpson with the Young Gun Flames in the late 90's. He wasn't good. Came across as a good team guy though and seemed popular amongst the players.
 

The Pale King

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Sep 24, 2011
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Kelly Buchberger perhaps? Andrew Ference more recently. Steve Rucchin in Anaheim.

I don't know if Steven Finn was a good player, but he was the captain on a roster that featured guys like Mats Sundin, Joe Sakic, and Olen Nolan.
 

The Panther

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Mar 25, 2014
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Paul Shmyr (WHA)
Ron Chipperfield
Lee Fogolin
Kelly Buchberger
Ethan Moreau
Shawn Horcoff
Andrew Ference
 

Sticks and Pucks

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Jan 2, 2008
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I was always intrigued by Jason Smith being a captain over Ryan Smyth. I would have thought Ryan Smyth was your typical "heart and soul" guy. He also played for the Oilers longer than Jason Smith did.

Matt Greene was an alternate captain for the Los Angeles Kings. On a roster that included Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Justin Williams, Jeff Carter, and Mike Richards.
 

hypereconomist

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Mar 10, 2019
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The Panthers named Paul Laus and Derek Mckenzie as captains at points in their history.

Those guys must have been really, really good in the room...because they certainly weren't getting much time on the ice.
 

Black Kevin

I don't work my ass off
Nov 19, 2019
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Jeff Halpern and Chris Clark were captains during Ovechkin's first two years in Washington.

I remember when Ovechkin was announced as the new captain. I was furious for some reason. It seemed like all the teams at the time were just giving the C to their point leaders, and Clark was Caps 3LW if I remember correctly. I remember thinking, man, he must be a great leader.
 
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Brodeur

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His career got derailed by injury, but I always found it interesting that Denis Pederson was an alternate captain on the 1998-00 Devils. I thought Pederson was on track to be a solid #3 center, but he got lost in the shuffle once Scott Gomez and John Madden cemented their spots. Since he was one of the few RH shots up front, Pederson got moved to RW against his wishes and his numbers took a dive.

But on a team with vets like Daneyko, Niedermayer, Holik, most wouldn't have guessed that Pederson would have gotten the A over them.
 
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rfournier103

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Chris Kelly of the early 2010s Bruins. Decent player, but not great.

He would get in anyone’s face who wasn’t playing hard enough, and he didn’t care who it was.
 

Filthy Dangles

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Recent example, but Ryan Callahan was a good player but never a superstar or great player. But a great leader who left it all on the ice.
 
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Dread Clawz

LAWSonic Boom
Nov 25, 2006
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The Panthers named Paul Laus and Derek Mckenzie as captains at points in their history.

Those guys must have been really, really good in the room...because they certainly weren't getting much time on the ice.

Also Brian Skrudland, although at his peak he was a very good checking line center. But not what you would categorize as a good player.
 

MadLuke

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Jan 18, 2011
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Depending on where you put your bar for great players, it could be a very long list, I imagine there was a giant amount of good leaders (not great, good) that were not great players (good but not great).

on that list for example:
Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award Winners

Some would fit the bill of not being particularly great player.

I think a more interesting question would be good leaders that were mediocre players (outside lasting longer than the average NHLER element).
 

Normand Lacombe

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Jan 30, 2008
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Andrew MacDonald was considered a great presence and a positive influence for younger players during his tenure with Philadelphia.

The late Greg Johnson was captain for a couple of seasons in Nashville.
 

c9777666

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Aug 31, 2016
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Jason Smith

Revisionist history makes it seem that Ryan Smyth was captain of that 06 Oilers Cup Finals team, but it was actually the one dubbed Gator

heck, he was also Flyer captain sandwiched right between Primeau/Richards when they made the 08 East Finals.
 
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c9777666

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Derian Hatcher

he wasn’t Dallas captain for 8 years by accident so he must have been a good leader esp. with all the veterans on those Stars teams that theoretically could have also worn the C (one of his teammates Guy Carbonneau was also a Cup winning captain)
 

GMR

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Derian Hatcher

he wasn’t Dallas captain for 8 years by accident so he must have been a good leader esp. with all the veterans on those Stars teams that theoretically could have also worn the C (one of his teammates Guy Carbonneau was also a Cup winning captain)
He was one of the best defensive defensemen of the clutch and grab era. Not a "great" player but I'd take him over the other names mentioned in this thread.
 

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