Speculation: Who should be our next captain? - Update: it's Staal

[My Special Purpose]

I think you are *woefully* underrating Aho's abilities as a leader.

To your point: Aho looks, to me, like a born leader. A guy who, from the day he came on the ice, said "I want to win, follow me." That's what a captain is, and from my perspective, he's the only guy on the team who has it (excepting Williams, obviously).

Probably. But it's also been a crazy offseason for a 22-year-old kid and I'm not excited about piling anything else on him at the moment. Maybe I'm overthinking this and it's a no-brainer, but I've seen a lot of young superstars get overwhelmed by too much, too fast. Makes me nervous.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Probably. But it's also been a crazy offseason for a 22-year-old kid and I'm not excited about piling anything else on him at the moment. Maybe I'm overthinking this and it's a no-brainer, but I've seen a lot of young superstars get overwhelmed by too much, too fast. Makes me nervous.

Yes, I think this might be a tough year in a lot of ways, and it makes me kinda nervous also. But I don't know what else he can do to be "ready". He's already the clear cut 1C on a team that follows his lead already.

 

[DaveG]

Probably. But it's also been a crazy offseason for a 22-year-old kid and I'm not excited about piling anything else on him at the moment. Maybe I'm overthinking this and it's a no-brainer, but I've seen a lot of young superstars get overwhelmed by too much, too fast. Makes me nervous.

A certain guy named Eric that used to play here comes to mind immediately for that.

 

[Lempo]

Probably. But it's also been a crazy offseason for a 22-year-old kid and I'm not excited about piling anything else on him at the moment. Maybe I'm overthinking this and it's a no-brainer, but I've seen a lot of young superstars get overwhelmed by too much, too fast. Makes me nervous.

I would agree, had I not already questioned moving Aho to center where he obviously would not excel just like Mikael Granlund and we would end up having switched a very good winger for a mediocre center.

I won't question anything anymore.

 

[DaveG]

Yes, I think this might be a tough year in a lot of ways, and it makes me kinda nervous also. But I don't know what else he can do to be "ready". He's already the clear cut 1C on a team that follows his lead already.

Hence my thought of Martinook as a placeholder C. Williams obviously drove the message home the most last year but if there's anyone else that I would say was big in that it was Martinook.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

It helps that we've got a captain behind the bench.

 

[tarheelhockey]

It helps that we've got a captain behind the bench.

Not a bad observation. Rod can't be everything to these guys, but he's in a position to occupy some of the role that's traditionally expected of a captain.

 

[Lempo]

I think placeholder captain is a dangerous strategy. If the placeholder really embraces the role and fires up in it, you will have a thing to address down the road regarding the "obvious choice" and the expected ascension. And selling the captain is not a very viable solution to do it by.

When Minnesota brought back local boy Jack Parise, there was calls that he should become the captain, but replacing Mikko Koivu would've been tough call. I don't know if the team felt any disturbance from the situation.

 

[MinJaBen]

I am not worried in the least about this situation specifically due to Rod's experience. He knows what it means and what is needed from the player. I'm sure he'll make a good decision, whatever it happens to be.

 

[Lempo]

Will it be Rod who picks the captain though? It may as well be a team decision in one way or another.

 

[MinJaBen]

Will it be Rod who picks the captain though? It may as well be a team decision in one way or another.

It will only be a team decision if he allows it, which will, thus, be the right decision...

 

[MinJaBen]

 

[My Special Purpose]

Aho to own the libs ... er, Canadiens fans.

 

[cptjeff]

Will it be Rod who picks the captain though? It may as well be a team decision in one way or another.

Rod is part of the Borg, remember. The coach is no longer separate from team decisions, management ain't gonna impose something on the coach. And when it comes to a decision like this, his voice is going to carry so much weight that the decision might as well be his alone.

 

[Lempo]

Rod is part of the Borg, remember. And when it comes to a decision like this, his voice is going to carry so much weight that the decision might as well be his alone.

I don't know... if he's already asking of Williams, who on his turn is (I assume) mainly opining on the natural leadership order in the room, it feels like it's mostly rubber-stamping the room's "decision".

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

The reason that I like the idea of Staal as captain for now is because of the 4 years remaining on his contract. To me, it would feel incredibly weird for some hotshot 22 year old kid to have the captaincy over the grizzled, productive vet, unless he clearly states that he doesn't want it. To me, the hierarchy post-Willy is Staal -> Faulk -> Slavin -> Aho -> Pesce.

 

[cptjeff]

I don't know... if he's already asking of Williams, who on his turn is (I assume) mainly opining on the natural leadership order in the room, it feels like it's mostly rubber-stamping the room's "decision".

Sorry, thought you meant "team" as in the organization, not the players.

I think talking with Williams is as far as he'll go. Williams knows the room and knows who has it in them and who doesn't. Williams will give his take on the various candidates and make a recommendation, and I think the player consultation ends there. Rod will make the pick knowing what Williams knows about the strengths and drawbacks of each candidate.

 

[My Special Purpose]

I don't think it matters -- Roddy and Willy are going to do the right thing -- but has any member of the Hurricanes (outside of the Faulk/Staal debacle of two seasons ago) ever been a captain at any level?

 

[robbieberns]

Honestly the best way to deal with Staal and Faulk is to bypass them completely and give the C to Aho. I think it would be weird to pick Staal or Faulk after they went through the co-captaincy debacle together. Give Faulk’s A to Slavin if and when he leaves next summer.

 

[A Star is Burns]

I don't have a real clue who would be best, but I'd be against Staal or Faulk from the bad taste the co-captain debacle left in my mouth (not just the stupidity of the co's, but the lack of success). I also think Faulk being a UFA after this year, and Staal being 4 years left, are both terrible timelines personally. No way I'd want to have it be Staal for 4 years personally. Neither of these guys seemed to love having it or thrived on it from the little we get to see.

The only 1 year person I would have given it to is Williams, but that's special circumstance. If they want a stop-gap, Martinook is a good candidate, but if he re-signs in two years, maybe not so much. I don't love stripping the C from guys, so I'd worry about giving it to anyone with a long contract if they think they want to give it to Aho or Slavin at some point, but not yet.

I'll mostly trust what they do, and we don't know nearly enough to make a great judgment on anyone. I also think it's still mostly overrated, but I still wouldn't want to go back to the Staal/Faulk well.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Was it really a debacle? No amount of leadership and team chemistry is going to counterbalance an .888 goalie.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Aho or Martinook for me.

Aho is so damn competitive and the way he got his contract done impresses me even more. No nonsense and don’t let anyone or anything get in the way, so he’d be my first choice and I don’t think any vet would have an issue with it.

Marty might be too “fun loving” but has naturally assumed a leadership role in 1 year.

Staal is too passive imo.
Faulk gives off too much of a Spicoli vibe.
Slavin, as others have said is a Wesley type Alternate.

Dark Horse might be Pesce.

 

[Unsustainable]

I’m sure who ever is the next captain, someone will complain.

 

[AD Skinner]

I can't find a source but I feel pretty sure both Staal and Faulk had said they didnt want the C before they had it... maybe I'm totally misremembering

 

[My Special Purpose]

Marty might be too “fun loving” but has naturally assumed a leadership role in 1 year.

Marty has also been very outspoken this summer in a very JW kinda way. He's commented on the new jerseys, the Durham Bulls, and all the player signings, welcoming guys in the way you might expect a captain to do. Maybe he knows something?

So, I did some research and aside from the Faulk-Staal co-captain fiasco, the *only* player currently with an NHL contract who served as a captain for his club/school team over a full season (i.e. no WJC captains or World Championships) is ... Chase Priskie!

Slavin was an "A" at Colorado College, Foegele was an "A" with Kingston, McGinn was an "A" with Guelph, Aho was an "A" with the 2016 Finnish WJC team, Jordan Staal was the No. 2 overall pick and never wore a letter in two seasons with Peterborough. The only reason he did for a bit in Pittsburgh is because Crosby, Malkin and everybody else were injured. Pesce never wore a letter at UNH.