Vacant captaincies

pezzz writes "Alright. We're right in the middle of the pre-season games right now, and there's still a few teams with vacant captaincies. So I decided to write a quick analysis about the front-runners, the runner-ups and the darkhorses at wearing the C for each team with C vacancy. Here it goes.

Atlanta

Front-runner : Ilya Kovalchuk.

Face of the franchise, Atlanta's best player (by far), top 10 player around the NHL, he is a huge talent. Leadership is maybe not his biggest asset, but if they want him to stay in Atlanta, they must show him he's THE guy they are going to build around and the 1rst step to take to show him that is giving him the C.

Runner-up : Niclas Havelid

Solid top 4 guy, great stay-at-home d-man, great shot blocker, strong work ethic, he gives his 100% each night for the team. Hey may not be a huge speaker in the locker room, but he's showing his leadership on the ice and that's giving him credibility and respect.

Darkhorse : Marty Reasoner

Good checking winger, excellent work ethic, he's really a team player. He's not afraid of standing and speaking in the locker room so that's an advantage. What disadvantage him though is that he's on a 1 year contract and is new with the team.

Buffalo

Front-runner : Jason Pominville

For the last 2 seasons, Pominville really emerged as one of the best 2-way forwards in the game. He gives his 100% every shift, is not afraid of going in the corners and shows great leadership in the locker room. He was given the temporary C at the end of last year and people were shocked by how he seemed to handle the duty perfectly for a still very young player.

Runner-up : Derek Roy

Almost the same player as Pominville. Small, but speedy and gritty. Not afraid to go in the corners and fight his way to the puck. Great 2-way player. Good leader, although he speaks a little less than Pominville. But he's the team's best player, so he deserves consideration.

Darkhorse : Craig Rivet

In Montreal and San Jose, Rivet always showed great leadership. Hard-worker, gritty, big mouth, Rivet is really what you expect from a good captain. The way he left Montreal 2 years ago leaves a bad taste in the mouth though. He didn't made unanimity along with Koivu and Souray as the leaders of the team. But in San Jose, Rivet was the true captain of the team. It's him who was speaking in the locker room and it's him who was on the bench after a game to tell the guys good work. It's his 1rst year in Buffalo though, so that's a disadvantage.

Florida

Front-runner : Jay Bouwmeester

Face of the franchise, team's best player, although his work ethic isn't always at 100%. But if the team wants a chance at resigning him, they must show him he's the cornerstone and therefore give him the C. If he sees the team trusts him and really want him long term, then he might consider resigning in Florida.

Runner-up : Stephen Weiss

Weiss showed great leadership as early as his sophomore year, when he was given a A. He's liked a lot in the locker room, is a great team guy, but questions are raised about his work ethic. He's often giving the puck away to avoid a hit. Also, he hasn't developped the way we were expecting him and is still looking for a breakout year. But don't count him out of the brawl.

Darkhorse : Keith Ballard

In Phoenix, Ballard was tagged as the potential C suiter when Doan will be retiring. Young, gritty, hard-hitter, impeccable work-ethic, Ballard is a great leader. He may be still a little young to handle perfectly the C duty and with all the potential leaders on the team (BO, Weiss, McCabe, Allen, Stillman, Horton), he's really a long-shot. But don't be so shocked if he gets it.

Los Angeles

Front-runner : Dustin Brown

Gritty, in-your-face player, he never takes a shift off. He likes to stand and speak loud in the locker room and although he's still very young, teammates are listening to him carefully. Most people think he's ready for the C and I guess it's time to pass the torch to a young franchise player after the just-ended Rob Blake era.

Runner-up : Alexander Frolov

Longest serving King player now that Blake, Visnovsky and Cammalleri are gone, he's a skilled playmaker but still plays with an edge. He's not the greatest speaker though and the constant trade rumors around his name should disadvantage him.

Darkhorse : Jarret Stoll

Stoll has always been tagged as a great leader in Edmonton, but bad injuries made him too shaky for the in-your-face role he was playing before. But he's still a great team guy and if he can regain the form he had 2 years ago, he will be considered for the C.

Minnesota

Jacques Lemaire and Doug Riseborough seem wanting to go on with the Alternate Captaincy system, so I'll just write the names of those who will likely get a shot at the C.

Marian Gaborik, Mikko Koivu, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Owen Nolan, Andrew Brunette, Brent Burns, Nick Schultz.

New York Rangers

Front-runner : Chris Drury

Great leader, Drury was an alternate captain with Briere for the Buffalo Sabres. Hard-worker, he never takes a shift off and is an exemple to follow for anyone. He had an off-year last year though, with a
bad +-, so he will have to get a bouceback year to get all the legitimity he needs to handle the huge NYR C.

Runner-up : Brendan Shanahan (I consider he'll play in NY this year)

Well what to say about him....maybe one of the greatest leaders of all time, although he never wore the C (I guess? please correct me if I'm wrong). He earned the friendship of every single player in the NHL and everybody looks up to him with huge respect. But the fact that he'll likely play only 1 more year plays against him.

Darkhorse : Marc Staal

Still very young, but he's already shown some great leadership. He's already established himself as a top d-man in the league at only 21 years old. He's maybe too young to handle it, but considering all the other probable suiters are pretty old, the Rangers might want to build around a very young captain for years to come instead of finding a new C again sooner rather than later.

Toronto

Front-runner : There's really no clear front-runner so far for the C in Toronto. So I'll take a guess and go with Matt Stajan.

Good two-way player, he never takes a shift off and showed some good leadership since he plays in TO. He's maybe a bit young to handle it, but no other player seems to be better suited for it, and considering the Leafs are entering a rebuilding phase, it seems logical to give the C to a young player the team will build around.

Runner-up : Tomas Kaberle

The team's best player, solid d-man, he's one of the last ray of hope for the Leafs to bring them to the playoffs. But his name constantly pops up in trade rumors and if the Leafs are deep in the rankings at the trade deadline, Fletcher will try to move him without a doubt, so that may ruin team's chemistry and spirit.

Darkhorse : Jason Blake

Although he didn't play up to his huge contract last year, he was almost the only player giving his heart and soul every shift until the end. Also, the fact that he was battling cancer while playing last year earned him a LOT of respect from his teammates. But last year he told the media it wouldn't bother him at all to leave Toronto, so it may take him out of the run.

Vancouver

Front-runner : Willie Mitchell

With the 3 established leaders of the team (Naslund, Morrison, Linden) now gone, it's time for a new crew to take the lead. Willie Mitchell is a hard-worker, in-your-face d-man playing gritty hockey. He always stands up for his teammates and gives his 100% every night. He's also a fan favourite and was born near Vancouver, so he may very well land the C.

Runner-up : Matthias Ohlund

Now that Naslund and Linden are gone, he's the longest serving Canuck ont he team. He's the team's best d-man and clearly stated he wants to end his career in Vancouver. He's liked a lot in the locker room, but the fact that his contract comes to an end after this year and the possibility to see him leaving to earn big bucks might cost him the spot.

Darkhorse : Ryan Kesler

Ryan Kesler has really emerged as one of the best 2-way forwards in the game. He might even be considered for the Selke this year. 20 goals is very good from a 3rd line player and the other intangibles he brings to the table, such as gritty play, high penalty minutes and his young age (24) will earn him high consideration for the duty. Mitchell and Ohlund seem to hold the big part of the stick though, but we never know.

That's it for tonight, I hope you enjoyed.

What are your picks? "