Claude Giroux was 25 when he was named captain of the Philadelphia Flyers. Saddled with the front-facing responsibilities that accompanied the prestigious role, the young forward overextended himself early into his tenure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just focusing on the wrong things and trying to help out everybody, trying to be a leader off the ice and talking too much, and then I just forgot to play hockey,\u201d Giroux said. \u201cWhen I was named captain, I think it\u2019s (then-general manager) Paul Holmgren that told me: \u2018You\u2019re not captain because of what you say. It\u2019s the way you play. So, just focus on that.\u2019 And that was a big turning point in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giroux, now 38, has gained plenty of leadership experience since the beginning of his nine years wearing the \u201cC\u201d for the Flyers. And as the newly re-signed<\/a> elder statesman on an Ottawa Senators team defined by up-and-coming talents who look toward Giroux to guide them along, the veteran will surely help educate whomever his current club names as its next captain.<\/p>\n The Senators are hardly alone in their need to fill a dressing room void. As of Wednesday morning, nine fellow NHL teams similarly lacked a designated captain: the Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks, New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. According to the league\u2019s statistics and information department, these 10 vacancies are believed to be a record.<\/p>\n NHL free agency: Early winners and losers<\/p>\n Shayna Goldman and Madison Eades<\/p>\n A handful of these teams lost their leaders in recent months. Longtime Kings center An\u017ee Kopitar retired this spring, capping a 20-year career that included 10 seasons as their captain. Boone Jenner, Radko Gudas and Anders Lee left the Blue Jackets, Ducks and Islanders, respectively, to sign elsewhere in free agency. Finally, despite the honor bestowed upon them at their previous stops, Brady Tkachuk (Senators), Quinn Hughes (Canucks), Brayden Schenn (Blues) and Nick Foligno (Blackhawks) have all been traded since mid-December.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time the NHL has seen such significant captain movement. Remarkably, six were traded during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign. But open captaincies don\u2019t stay that way for long. Of those 10 C-less teams, only the Bruins and Sharks have lacked one for at least a full season, with the former having traded Brad Marchand in March 2025 and the latter losing Logan Couture to injury-related retirement a month later. And seven teams named new captains during the 2024 offseason alone, suggesting that a similar rush of announcements might come before next season.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the changing of the guard, right?\u201d Foligno said. \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of a push right now for the next wave of players to take over.\u201d<\/p>\n Though the idea of the \u201cC\u201d undoubtedly holds a special place in hockey lore, some wonder whether this gravitas will lead to delayed decisions. Schenn and Foligno were aging veterans who were called upon to lead teams in transition, but Hughes and Tkachuk actively sought greener pastures after receiving the reins as young stars in their markets. Now, they\u2019re seen as faces of the NHL\u2019s emerging player empowerment era<\/a>, which could lead their former clubs to think more about who should be given the sport\u2019s most honored letter \u2014 and how soon.<\/p>\n \u201cTeams are waking up a little bit and just making sure that they know what they have,\u201d said former Carolina Hurricanes captain Justin Williams, now a front-office advisor for the 2026 Stanley Cup champions. \u201cAnd they have the commitment from the player, as well, to be there. Because you don\u2019t want to just name a captain who\u2019s on a one-year or two-year contract and then he\u2019s out the door, right? So, you\u2019ve got to have a guy who\u2019s committed to the team, committed to the city as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Impactful play, effective communication<\/p>\n An NHL captain is more than the face of a team for marketing purposes. He often serves as a go-to interview with media members and frequently talks to on-ice officials about rulings and other in-game issues. He can act as a liaison between the coaching staff and the dressing room to settle conflicts, and as a social coordinator in organizing off-ice activities to bring teammates together.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of times the captain was the best player and\/or the guy that was the most veteran, right?\u201d said Foligno, who also captained the Blue Jackets from 2015 to 2021. \u201cThat just everyone respected. Now it\u2019s more who has the pulse of the group and who understands the direction that we\u2019re going and can kind of be the go-between, between the coach and the players, right? And he has to be a great communicator, and I just think that that\u2019s where the captains are now.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, the captain doesn\u2019t have to be a team\u2019s best player. But it\u2019s also difficult to justify giving the letter to a fringe roster member.<\/p>\n \u201cOtherwise, you\u2019re just a glorified assistant coach,\u201d said broadcaster Ray Ferraro, a former Atlanta Thrashers captain. \u201cSo, the player has to be impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n Those responsibilities have remained consistent throughout league history, even as some elements of the job have changed. In the 1950s, according to newspaper archives, NHL captains annually voted on honors such as individual player awards, All-Star teams and the most popular referee. In the present, however, there\u2019s more emphasis on teams\u2019 leadership structures and not solely on one player shouldering the load.<\/p>\n Teams such as the Bruins have gotten by with leadership committees and not a de facto leader. After Marchand was traded to the Florida Panthers, the Bruins relied on three alternate captains: forward David Pastrnak and defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always said I wanted a captain,\u201d Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said in May. \u201cBut now, being through that (for the) first time as a head coach not having a captain, I thought it went real well. Maybe because guys were really close, the leadership group, I thought, did a good job overall. Everyone had their input. There was no outsider. They always kept it really tight. I actually didn\u2019t mind it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut having said that, that will be a conversation to have with (Bruins GM Don Sweeney) \u2014 how we\u2019re going to move forward. But, personally, I liked how we handled \u2014 and especially the players, how they handled \u2014 the situation all year long.\u201d<\/p>\n Those groups aren\u2019t always limited to players wearing letters on their jerseys. But there can be such a thing as too many voices, or ones who are miscast.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s less about a figurehead and more about, like, an inclusionary leadership group,\u201d said Ferraro, who succeeded current Senators GM Steve Staios as the Thrashers\u2019 captain in 2001. \u201cI see why they do it. And I see what the advantages are of it. But I don\u2019t think you necessarily have to expand your leadership to two or three or four players to include a bigger group if that\u2019s not what they are.\u201d<\/p>\n Winners and losers from the 2026 NHL Draft<\/p>\n Scott Wheeler<\/p>\n Star-crossed successors<\/p>\n In Ottawa, where Giroux serves as an alternate captain, the Senators intend to name a replacement for Tkachuk. They certainly do not lack for options, including two young, bright talents in Jake Sanderson and Tim St\u00fctzle.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you have Shane Pinto, Ridly Greig,\u201d Giroux said. \u201cYou have (Thomas Chabot) that\u2019s been here a long time, and Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens. So, you have a lot of guys that can bring a little bit of everything. But you know what? Leadership is not about one person. It\u2019s about a lot of guys doing their job.\u201d<\/p>\n It remains to be seen how the nine other teams will fill their vacancies, though many expect two to soon tap their leading superstars. The 20-year-old Macklin Celebrini<\/a> is already a Sharks alternate captain and recently captained Team Canada at this year\u2019s IIHF World Championship. Meanwhile, after recently signing a five-year, $75 million contract extension, the Blackhawks\u2019 Connor Bedard told reporters it would be \u201cextremely special\u201d<\/a> for him to become Chicago\u2019s next captain.<\/p>\n The Islanders might not be as quick to do the same with defenseman Matthew Schaefer; head coach Peter DeBoer recently told The Athletic that they didn\u2019t want to load up the 18-year-old\u2019s \u201cplate too early,\u201d<\/a> lest they risk Schaefer\u2019s overextending himself, as Giroux did. For Williams, the former Hurricanes captain, such patience can be a virtue.<\/p>\n \u201cThe league is getting younger; that\u2019s a pure reflection of that,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI think it\u2019s smart. People are waiting to see, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s an issue at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if teams such as the Islanders take their time, the honor of being captain is valued across the NHL.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also a ceremony, a tradition of having the captain, and I don\u2019t think our sport would go away from it,\u201d Ferraro said. \u201cMaybe they would, but I don\u2019t think so. I think there\u2019ll always be a captain. But this time right now, to me, it feels transitional.\u201d<\/p>\n