I’m proposing that our Detroit Red Wings do something that has never been done in the teams 92 year history- go through a season without naming a team captain.

Hey I get it, it sounds insane. It sounds especially insane to us Detroit Red Wing fans whose last three captains were named Yzerman, Lidstrom, and Zetterberg and they spanned 33 years. Wild shit eh? We’ve been so spoiled by the Wings over the last 30ish years we don’t even realize it. Another thing you might not realize- there are currently NINE teams without NHL captains: Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal, Islanders, Rangers, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Vegas.

Now granted, of those nine, six of them have just had the position vacated (Zetterberg, Pacioretty, Tavares, Karlsson, Sedin, McDonagh)…but the other three, Buffalo-Toronto-Vegas, all went last year without a captain. Toronto hasn’t had one since 2015-16 (Phaneuf), Buffalo hasn’t had one since 2016-17 (Gionta), and Vegas has never had a captain in their long-storied (one year) history.

Great. Now that the fucking history lesson is over, I can dive into why I believe the Wings need to wait to name a captain until it’s someone we know is going to be a staple moving forward…and I can hear you yelling at your screen right now “Frank! It’s Dylan Larkin you stupid bag of shit! We just signed him to a 5 year deal! He’s young, he’s fast, AND he’s from Michigan! Let’s just make D-Boss captain now!”

Hey I hear you. Larkin came on strong at the end of the year, and he fits all the poster boy shit you could ever want to be Detroit’s captain, but I don’t think he’s there yet. I feel like it would be something that would have just been handed to him and I believe he needs to work towards it one more year, and prove to Blash, the team, and the city why he is the no doubt option to be the Wings next captain. Think about it, when Yzerman retired everyone and their mother knew Lidstrom was going to be the captain…same goes with Zetterberg after Lidstrom (if you actually thought Datsyuk would be named captain I salute your fandom but spit on your common sense…he can’t speak English guys.)

But now we’re in a situation where the answer is not clear cut and right in front of us. Right now the assistant captains on paper are Nicklas Kronwall and Justin Abdelkader…both members of the 2008 Cup team. Also still around from that team (amazingly) is Jonathan Ericsson 🤢, Darren Helm, Jimmy Howard, and I guess technically Johan Franzen.

As far as tenure goes, the easy answer would be Kronwall…but you can’t have captain who isn’t present. Kronwall’s injury history over the last couple of years resembles that of Ziggy Ansah. He doesn’t rumble fuck anymore with pulverizing hits, and if I’m being honest watching the guy out there, he looks like me if I ever tried to skate with a high school team again…he just can’t keep up with the speed of the game anymore.

Abby. Now, I am always biased toward Abdelkader because 1. He’s a Sparty and 2. Because he has kind of lived my dream life. He was a National Champion at MSU and scored the game winning goal in overtime to win the Championship in 2007, then went on to play for the Wings in 08 and win a Stanley Cup. The following year he scored a goal in game one and game two of the 2009 finals, and got to play on a line with Hank and Pavs. This is in addition to winning State Championships playing high school hockey at Mona Shores in Michigan. But, just because I would love to trade lives with him doesn’t mean he gets my nod to captain the Wings. Honestly, it just doesn’t even sound right…Yzerman, Lidstrom, Zetterberg…Abdelkader. Whoa. It would be like having Kirk Maltby as your captain. I love you Malts but you’re just not my captain brother!

I can hear you yelling at your screen again. I understand- we’ve been spoiled. The odds of us getting another Yzerman, Lidstrom, or even Z as a captain this time around are very low. But I don’t think the Wings need to don someone with the C simply because the position is vacated right now. I think the organization is in a very unique position to have some young players really fight for the right to earn the title. The team will be younger than they have been in a very long time, and if Blash makes it clear that nothing is going to be handed out for free under his regime, he may be able to squeeze the most out of his young talent and see who really wants to be a lasting figure and the face of the franchise for years to come. If anything, it may give Blash more control over the boys without some punk young twenty something year old thinking he can call the shots.

It’s not something that’s required to win hockey games. It doesn’t show disorganization or a lack of direction. Vegas went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals without a captain. Fuck Toronto but it seems like it’s working just fine for them. And Buffalo, well, Buffalo is a mess.

When Yzerman got named captain back in 1986, he was 21 years old. Sure he was young. But he was also a 4th overall pick and put up 87 and 89 points in the seasons prior to being named captain. Larkin has put up seasons of 45, 32, and 63, which is nothing to sneeze at, but I think the Wings should make him chase it and earn it for one more year before the stitch the heralded C on his sweater.

If you want my prediction though, I bet they do give Larkin the C before the puck drops this season, those jersey sales will look great on the bottom line. #lgrw 🍾

– Frank