Pens4ever said:
Would they really give him the C? I mean, even if guys like Brindamour and O'neill are still around? I'm not going against what you're saying, i'm just curious because i havne't heard much of anything about the Canes.
O'Neill isn't considered Captain material for the simple reason that he's a bit self-centered at times and hasn't ever really been considered a team player. In addition to that, he wasn't even assured a place on the team this season had he not gotten injured around the deadline. What kind of message would it send about the organization if their Captain was almost certainly traded except for his injury? With his subpar season this year, he'll probably not even be in contention for an "A".
Rod Brind'Amour is probably in the same productivity boat as Jeff O'Neill. However, if Staal doesn't get the "C", then i'd expect it to go to Brindy. Usually when a team feels they have a franchise type player, they will put the "C" on their chest as soon as possible to get them used to that type of pressure. It happened with Yzerman, Francis, LeCavalier, Lindros, and the list goes on and on.
With the youth movement about to start, it wouldn't shock me a bit to see Eric Staal wearing the "C" next season.