The Chicago Blackhawks don’t currently have a captain after long-time captain Jonathan Toews wasn’t re-signed this summer. Toews was Chicago’s captain from July of 2008 until April of this year when the season ended. During his time the Blackhawks had an unparalleled run of success on the ice winning three Stanley Cups.
Now with the captaincy vacant, defenseman Seth Jones has expressed an interest in the role telling Tracey Myers of NHL.com that he always wanted to be a captain after learning from great leaders such as Toews, Shea Weber, and Nick Foligno. Jones added that he understands his role in the room and will be a leader whether he has a letter on his jersey or not.
It’s an interesting statement from the 28-year-old rearguard as the Blackhawks are early in a big rebuild, but that process has certainly been accelerated with the team’s draft lottery win that allowed them to pick Connor Bedard first overall. It’s also unlikely to happen given that the Blackhawks will probably keep the captaincy vacant until Bedard is ready to take the reins in a few years.
Chicago’s captaincy may ultimately play out the same way it did with the Pittsburgh Penguins 18 years ago when Sidney Crosby began his career. At the time Mario Lemieux was the Penguins captain, but he didn’t make it through the 2005-06 season as he retired midseason. The Penguins then left the captaincy vacant until they gave it to Crosby in May 2007 after his second NHL season.
The other complications with Jones when it comes to the captaincy could be his contract status coupled with his play on the ice. Jones has long had the reputation as an elite, minute-eating defenseman, and while the latter is true, the former is much more complicated. Jones had a disastrous end to his time in Columbus and was dealt to Chicago. He quickly signed an eight-year $76MM contract with the Blackhawks that was panned by some and praised by others. There is no doubt that Jones provides a good amount of offensive punch, but his defensive play has been problematic as evidenced by his -75 the past two seasons.
Jones is entering the second year of his deal and it has already started to feel like he could become a buyout candidate before the end of the contract. It felt like an overpayment when it was signed and it really looks like one now. And with Jones pushing 30 his play is more likely to get worse before it gets better. Putting the captaincy on him now could become a PR nightmare in a few years if his play were to drop off and lead to a buyout.
He’s overpaid and also not very good. And he wants to be Captain? Screw it, Just make Bedard the Captain now and get it over with.
Make Bedard, a kid who hasn’t even played one min in the NHL, captain of the Chicago Blackhawks right now? That’s a joke, right?
Well yeah it was a joke. But even a 19 year old who who wants to be here would be a 10 times better choice than a pathetic whiner like Debrincat who’s never been happy anywhere he’s been. You want your Captain to have a spine and squids like Jones and Debrincat need not apply. Has Jones ever said a word to anybody since he’s been here? Yeah that’s the guy you want.
I don’t think Jones is the right person for the job, but we will agree to disagree on DeBrincat. Dude always played hard, great team player, never backed down from anyone, got into fights sticking up for his teammates, showed great leadership, and was a great scorer. The only place he seemingly wasn’t content was in Ottawa.
But none of this matters, we traded him and he just signed a nice contract with Detroit. The only other possible Captain right now is Conner Murphy. Yet, I’d rather wait until Bedard is mature enough and isn’t a bust or injury prone.
DeBrincat wasn’t happy here and wouldn’t even discuss an extension with Davidson, Prompting Davidson to move on. The return of Korchinski, Ludwinski and a 4th Rd pick next year yet to be determined was awesome. If he was so happy here, Why didn’t he want to stay? The Hawks hands were tied Cap wise so he couldn’t get big money up front but surely would of been paid down the road. Davidson absolutely made the right choice and launched the idiot. If he doesn’t play with who he wants to play with in Detroit and cries again, How long will it be before Stevie Y wises up and launches him again? He won’t put up with it at all. The Lightning made an insane pitch for Hagel which so far has netted Raddysh, and Oliver Moore with another 1st next year. Davidson is doing a fantastic job and knows what he’s doing. Getting rid of dead weight was his first job and Debrincat was first out the door for a reason. I get he’s your hero for some odd reason, But the only reason he was anything at all was because he played on a line with Kaner. Your Hero worship is wasted dude, Sorry.
Corey Perry wants to be captain too.
You tell him no.
I want to be Captain too. Oh wait, I forgot, I can’t skate.
We traded our best option to take over the role of Captain, when we traded DeBrincat! Now we must wait!
That’s a joke right?
Bowman traded for him, in despartion, in order to keep his job. As mentioned here, he is not playing up to his contract and GM Davidson needs to figure a way to trade him this season. His demand to be Captain is a way to agitate the Blackhawks to trade him. It’s a difficult task to name a Captain and it may not occur until a prospect steps up to take the role.
It could be as simple as the Hawks stunk last year, and he’s just putting his hat in the running. Inspiration can go a long way. It could also be as complicated as a GM overstepping to keep their job, and fully not expecting the first overall pick. True leaders don’t need C’s or A’s, or even ask for them (Lowry)
Usually, they don’t pick such bad of a player…
When you campaign for captain It’s really kind of tacky and honestly the captaincy is overrated, It’s not as important as teams make it out to be.
That’s a valid perspective. But is Jones campaigning for it or was he just answering a question? Sincerely wondering, since the article doesn’t specify.