For the first time in a decade, the Tampa Bay Lightning won’t be hitting the ice with Steven Stamkos as captain after the team let its longtime leader walk in free agency. That’s a massive shift for the franchise, which reached three Stanley Cup Finals, winning twice, during Stamkos’ captaincy — a tenure that felt like it would last his entire career.
Stamkos said during an interview on Sportsnet on Monday, shortly after signing his four-year deal in Nashville, that he’d had every intention of spending his entire career in Tampa Bay before talks fell through and the Lightning signed forward Jake Guenzel to a seven-year, $63 million deal instead of keeping its captain.
While Tampa Bay is the most surprising team to open up a vacancy at captain this summer, it’s not the only franchise without someone sporting the ‘C’ right now. The NHL currently has six captain-less clubs (and, according to Nick Kypreos, a seventh could be considering a change as the Toronto Maple Leafs are reportedly thinking about stripping John Tavares of the captaincy and giving it to Auston Matthews).
Of the six teams without a captain, four spent all of last season with a leadership-by-committee approach: Seattle, Chicago, Anaheim, and Utah (Arizona at the time). The Buffalo Sabres finished the 2023-24 campaign without a captain after dealing Kyle Okposo to Florida at the deadline.
With all that in mind, we’re taking a look at all six vacancies and identifying the best candidate(s) to wear the ‘C’ in each market.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Top candidate for captaincy: Victor Hedman
While Stamkos won’t be spending his entire career in Tampa Bay, it appears his longtime teammate, defenceman Victor Hedman, will. The Swedish rearguard has been a franchise cornerstone on the blue line since he was drafted second overall in 2009 and just signed a four-year extension that’ll keep him in Tampa through 2028-29.
The well-decorated defenceman — he’s won the Norris Trophy, the Conn Smythe, and two Stanley Cups with the club — has long been part of Stamkos’ leadership core, sporting a letter on his sweater for the better part of a decade. He’s the most natural next captain and would certainly provide a smooth leadership transition following a major shakeup atop the lineup.
Anaheim Ducks
Top candidate for captaincy: Troy Terry
In order to acknowledge Terry as the top option for captain of the future, we’ve got to first recognize the contributions of Cam Fowler when it comes to leadership in this young locker room.
Fowler, 32, has spent his entire career in Anaheim, and 14 seasons in is the longest-tenured Duck by a pretty wide margin. He’s been a pivotal veteran presence since the retirement of Ryan Getzlaf in 2022, not only sporting a letter as part of the team’s rotation of captains but providing an important veteran presence as the team launched its youth movement. He’d be an excellent choice for captain, but with two seasons remaining on his contract and the team entering a new era as it looks to emerge from its rebuild, it’s worth wondering if the franchise will opt for a longer-term name — and that’s where Terry comes in. While the Ducks have plenty of strong options, including fellow young forward Mason McTavish, Terry makes a ton of sense.
The 26-year-old signed a seven-year pact last summer that keeps him in Anaheim until 2030. And with six years of Ducks hockey already under his belt, he’s the second-longest tenured player on the team behind Fowler, and is consistently among the club’s top scorers. He broke out alongside Getzlaf, learning from the longtime leader not just on the ice but in the locker room, and has spoken several times about the former captain’s significant influence on him and about his own desire to continue to embrace a leadership role with the club.
The Ducks have made it clear that after two seasons without a captain, they’ll name one this summer and considering his history and future with the club, Terry feels like the best choice here.
Utah Hockey Club
Top candidate for captaincy: Clayton Keller
With so many changes for the Arizona-turned-Utah club this year, you could understand if management and ownership opted for another season of a leadership rotation as the club settles into its new home. But that would mean a fourth season without a captain — Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who left in 2021, was the last to wear the ‘C,’ having taken over from Shane Doan. What better way to introduce your squad to a brand new hockey market than to have a franchise face leading the way?
Forward Clayton Keller has been that franchise face, not to mention one of its top producers, and while trade rumours have swirled around the 25-year-old, the move to Salt Lake City and the transition to new, stable ownership could see things settle down for a while. Presenting Keller as Utah’s first captain would send a message that the team is committing to building around him — and that he’s committed to leading the team in its next chapter, too.
Seattle Kraken
Top candidate for captaincy: Matty Beniers
When Seattle named Mark Giordano as its first captain in franchise history, they did so knowing it was always going to be a short-term move. It’s safe to assume that their second-ever captain will be someone who’s in it for the long run.
Matty Beniers is the obvious choice here. The franchise’s first-ever draft pick, selected second overall in 2021, is hitting his stride with the club. Just three years in he already plays and acts (and, let’s be honest, looks) like a veteran. The Kraken brought in some big-name veterans with Stanley Cup experience during Monday’s first wave of free-agency signings, but it makes the most sense to stitch the ‘C’ on the sweater of someone who’s been there from the start. Beniers announced the Kraken’s first-round pick at the draft in Vegas last month, and while the 21-year-old RFA is currently without a contract for the 2024-25 campaign, all signs point to him being the face of the franchise moving forward.
Perhaps we’ll get a two-for-one contract and captaincy announcement in Seattle this summer?
Buffalo Sabres
Top candidate for captaincy: Alex Tuch
The Sabres have multiple strong options in the wake of Okposo’s departure to Florida at the trade deadline, and it raises an interesting question about what kind of player is best suited to be captain. Most markets’ biggest star wears the ‘C,’ while some opt for a secondary scorer and/or a veteran who’s shown himself to be a leader in other ways.
Buffalo could — and perhaps should — name defenceman Rasmus Dahlin as its next captain. And that would be a great choice. He’s the leader on the blue line, a player the club has committed to build around, and is about to embark on the first season of the eight-year, $88-million extension he signed last summer. But Alex Tuch presents an incredibly compelling case, not to mention a great story. The Syracuse native grew up a Sabres fan and was thrilled to land with his hometown team as part of the Jack Eichel-to-Vegas transaction. He’s been a vocal leader since landing in the market, plays with his heart on his sleeve, and on a team that’s had its share of struggles both on the ice and on the open market, Tuch is a player who understands the Buffalo sports passion better than most. Naming Tuch captain would also free up Dahlin, one of the top blue liners in the league, to focus on what he does best. Of course, Tuch lacks the long-term contract at the moment — he’s got two years left on his deal, so naming him captain would come with the understanding that he’s staying home long-term.
The Sabres can’t go wrong with either, but Tuch’s roots would make his captaincy feel all the more meaningful.
Top candidate for captaincy: Connor Bedard
We all know Connor Bedard is the face, the biggest star, and the leader of the Blackhawks for many years to come. There’s no question he’ll be the captain, too. The only question is when they’ll stitch the ‘C’ onto his sweater.
There is a template in place, if you look back to the last time they named their captain of the future. Jonathan Toews was drafted third overall in 2006, joined the team in 2007-08, and by his second full season was sporting the ‘C’ at age 20. Bedard, of course, jumped straight into the NHL after being selected first overall last summer and will turn 19 in two weeks. Naming him captain now would make him the youngest captain ever. Connor McDavid became the first 19-year-old captain when he was given the ‘C’ ahead of the 2016-17 season.
Chicago named Martin Lapointe a temporary captain before officially handing over the leadership to Toews nearly two decades ago, and it’s worth wondering if management might opt to do something similar this year with, say, Nick Foligno, who’s signed for two more years. That would give Bedard a little more time to play without the added pressures that come with the captaincy.