Three vacancies on the captaincies have been filled in through the NHL, with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Anaheim Ducks.
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Tampa Bay Lightning Captain: Victor Hedman
The Lightning didn’t waste any time in naming their next captain after Steven Stamkos left for the Nashville Predators in free agency, with Victor Hedman being named the 11th captain in franchise history.
It was the most logical choice, given Hedman is entering his 16th season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and is the most veteran player on the team. He is 30 games back of Stamkos’ franchise-record 1,082 games played, and barring a major injury, he will assume this record. He helped the Bolts to back-to-back Stanley Cups, with a Conn Smythe Trophy in 2020 to his résumé, and a Norris Trophy in 2018.
While he’s no longer a top three defenseman in the NHL, he’s still an elite blueliner and proved that his down 2023 season was a fluke, rebounding in a big way with 63 assists and 76 points in 78 games, the second-best offensive season of his career. He also had a team-high +18, and led all Bolts at average time on ice, at 24:48 per game. He’s the best defenseman in Lightning franchise history, with records in goals (156), assists (572), points (728), and rating (+175), all by a large margin.
Chicago Blackhawks Captain: Nick Foligno
Foligno has been named the 35th captain in franchise history and the first since Jonathan Toews’ final season with the Blackhawks in the 2023 season.
This is the second season of Foligno’s tenure with the Blackhawks after signing a two-year, $9 million extension with the team last January to keep him off unrestricted free agency. Foligno also served as the captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2015 up until his trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2021 deadline. With Chicago, he was already part of the team’s leadership group, serving as an alternate captain last season.
https://twitter.com/NHLBlackhawks/status/1837996594639020361
At 36 years old, he’s in the final few years of his NHL career, but he’s still a very reliable forward who can slot in the second through fourth lines. Last season, he had limited duties on the top line on a thin Blackhawks forward core. Moving up and down the lineup, he finished with 17 goals and 37 points in 74 games, the most games that he has played in a single season since the 2019 season. His 37 points were his best showing offensively since his Columbus years, finishing third on the team in scoring, and leading them in hits, with 192.
He’s not going to be relied on as heavily as he was last season with Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen added in free agency to help out on the wing. Plus, Taylor Hall will be back playing at a full-time role after a knee injury limited him to just 10 games will get the new captain to third line duties. This means Connor Bedard may presumably be on track to take the captain position. Then again, the Blackhawks are not afraid to get the captaincy, given that Toews got the captaincy from his second season in the league onward.
Anaheim Ducks Captain: Radko Gudas
Gudas was named the 9th season in Ducks franchise history, succeeding Ryan Getzlaf, becoming the first to wear the “C” since Getzlaf retired in the 2022 season. Gudas is also the 6th Czech-born captain in NHL history, joining Peter Stastny, Jaromir Jagr, Patrik Eliáš, Bobby Holik and Milan Hejduk.
Through 748 career NHL games in 12 seasons, Gudas was a bit of a journeyman, having played with five different teams after starting his career with the Tampa Bay Lightning. His overwhelming physical presence where he consistently racked up 250 hits year in and year out sparked the attention of the NHL. His 273 hits with the Bolts in 2014 are a franchise record for Tampa Bay, but not a career high for him. He put up 304 and 280 hits in the 2016 and 2017 seasons respectively, franchise records among Philadelphia Flyers defensemen.
It wasn’t until 2022 where physicality reached his peak when he put up 355 hits with the Florida Panthers, the third-most of any defenseman since the NHL began tracking hits, only behind Jérémy Lauzon’s 383 last season and Mark Borowiecki’s 364 in 2017. His move to Anaheim last summer was an interesting one, though he took on a second-pairing role with the Ducks, with 18 points in 66 games, his highest scoring since the 2019 season.
He has also stood up as a clear leader on a young Anaheim core that is seeking to take another step towards the playoffs in a rebuild. In the last two seasons, the Ducks went with a series of alternate captains, including Cam Fowler, the longest-tenured Duck, having been with the team since 2010. Gudas’ appointment by general manager Pat Verbeek and head coach Greg Cronin shows a more traditional leadership structure.
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