While just about every team in the NHL is busy stitching new names on the back of sweaters in the aftermath of free agency, a couple Canadian squads require alterations on the front too.
The Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens are both without captains following a July 1 transaction bonanza that saw Jason Spezza traded to the Dallas Stars and free agent Brian Gionta sign with the Buffalo Sabres. While neither team is likely to rush out and anoint a new leader in the next few days, there are a couple obvious options for both franchises, depending on which way they want to go.
In Ottawa, defenceman Chris Phillips has been with the team since the 1997-98 season and has two years remaining on his deal. The longtime Senator is an obvious choice to wear the ‘C’ if the team wants a veteran atop of its leadership chart. The only potential issue could be whether Phillips wants to remain with the club should things go completely sideways. The 36-year-old has been a devoted Senator his entire career and has made a point of sticking around when other options might have seemed more appealing.
But Ottawa seems to be teetering on a full-blown rebuild, and if that’s the case, would Phillips rather take one last crack at the Stanley Cup he doesn’t have by joining a contender before next year’s trade deadline? Surely the team isn’t interested in naming a third captain in three years next summer if that’s the situation.
If the Sens are looking to avoid that scenario entirely, they could turn to Erik Karlsson. The 24-year-old Swede will be in the middle of anything Ottawa does for the next decade and seems ready to take on a big role inside the room. Karlsson surely gleaned some things from countryman and close friend Daniel Alfredsson when the latter was still the face of the franchise.
The situation in Montreal is interesting because, by letting Gionta walk and trading Josh Gorges, management sent a clear message that it believes in the team’s youthful leaders. Do general manager Marc Bergevin & Co. want to take the big step of anointing Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher or P.K. Subban the new captain? We’re betting it’s not quite time yet.
The two most likely options in Montreal are either handing the ‘C’ to a quiet leader or simply going without a captain for one season, as the team did when Saku Koivu left in the summer of 2009.
If the Habs do want a captain next October, Andrei Markov and Tomas Plekanec are solid candidates. Neither player is very vocal, but big, rousing speeches are for movie scripts, not professional dressing rooms. Markov just re-upped to stay three more years in Montreal and has been open about his love of the team and city. Plekanec has been the most consistent skater on the Canadiens for years and, despite his penchant for using head snaps to draw high-sticking penalties, he’s an exemplary player who’s simply incapable of dogging it for a single shift.
Ultimately, both the Habs and Sens have viable options. It’s just a matter of which generation management wants to empower.