The Seattle Kraken have not had a team captain for over two years. The franchise’s original talisman, Mark Giordano, was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in March 2022 in the franchise’s first season of existence. Since then, the club has operated with a few alternate captains. Given that the team is now in semi-rebuilding mode insofar as they need to get back to the playoffs and just hired a new head coach in Dan Bylsma, the time has come to nominate a new team captain.
The Importance of a Team Captain
A player with an upper case “C” on their jersey above their heart (or an armband, or a star, etc.) leads by example, with wise words on the bench or the touchline, with common sense and motivational speeches in the dressing room, at practice in the morning, or whatever the case may be. That one player about whom everyone else on the ice can say with confidence, “This is our guy who will lead us into the fire, and I’m okay with that. I will dance into the fire with them.”
Which NHL teams do not have captains? The Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Utah’s new club, and the Kraken. Who missed the playoffs in 2023-24? The Ducks, Sabres, Hawks, Utah, and Kraken, among others. Who wasn’t very good this season? Ducks, Sabres, Hawks, Utah, and Kraken. Were there other teams with captains that missed the playoffs? Yes. But not having one seems to leave a hole in a team’s spirit.
Those teams that experienced admirable campaigns in 2023-24, including the playoffs (the Stanley Cup Finals are about to commence as of this writing), have great captains. The Florida Panthers have Aleksander Barkov. The Edmonton Oilers have Connor McDavid. The Vancouver Canucks have Quinn Hughes. The Dallas Stars have Jamie Benn. The Carolina Hurricanes have Jordan Staal. The New York Rangers have Jacob Trouba. Yes, the latter is a bit of a controversial figure, but, darn it, he leads that group. Trouba aside, nobody disrespects Benn, McDavid, Barkov, Hughes, or Staal. They add to the respectability of those teams.
Think of the captains of some teams that missed the playoffs. Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators. Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nick Suzuki and the Montreal Canadiens. Their teams aren’t perfect, nor are they (well, Crosby practically is), but no one around the league sees them when they step on the ice and says, “Oh god, not that loser again.”
Simply put, the Kraken need a player to help them out of the miasma…
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