With captain Bo Horvat gone to Long Island, Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet has outlined his new leadership group ... for now.
Franchise cornerstones Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson will serve as alternate captains alongside centre J.T. Miller and defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tocchet said Sunday in Vancouver's first practice after the All-Star break.
Over All-Star Weekend, Horvat endorsed Pettersson to be the team's next captain, saying "he'd get my vote."
Both Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin and new head coach Rick Tocchet have hinted at Pettersson or Hughes becoming the next Canucks captain since Horvat was traded.
Pettersson, 24, has spent the past five seasons with Vancouver after being drafted by the organization fifth overall in 2017. The Swede has recorded 118 goals and 161 assists in 292 games with the team.
The topic of Horvat's trade was raised to Pettersson on Thursday by the media.
"It's nothing I can control," he said. "Obviously, everybody thought things would play out differently, but (they didn't). Now you can just look ahead and not think of what could have happened."
Hughes, also 23, has 210 points in 250 NHL games, all with the Canucks.
Miller and Ekman-Larsson have served as alternate captains since last season.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.