John Gibson #36, Anaheim Ducks (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
More than a few teams across the NHL do not have captains for the upcoming season.
The NHL has 32 NHL teams; of those 32 teams, 25 have team captains, meaning there are seven NHL franchises without a captain on their roster. Every team has a leader in the room, but for whatever reason, some have not named a team captain just yet.
Maybe it is because their captain left in the past few seasons, or maybe just because the team doesn’t want to name a captain, either way, no one is wearing the C on those seven teams. Many of these teams are in drastically different positions regarding the state of their franchise, and today I want to highlight those teams.
Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks lost their captain this past season when longtime captain Ryan Getzlaf announced his retirement near the end of the 2021-22 NHL season. I cannot imagine this team names a new captain this season partly out of respect to Getzlaf.
This is a team that will play this year with three assistant captains. They have plenty of time to see who emerges as the next leader in the locker room and on the ice. It will be fun to watch while the Ducks also try to contend in 2022-23.
Arizona Coyotes
Of the captain vacancies across the NHL, this is one of the longest ones to date. The Arizona Coyotes have not had a captain since the 2020-21 NHL season. Their captain at the time was Oliver Ekman-Larsson who was traded to the Vancouver Canucks at the end of the season.
The Coyotes do not seem in a rush to name the franchise’s fifth captain anytime soon. Although I will admit, I would like to see Nick Schmaltz or Clayton Keller named captain, if they were to name someone.