One way or another, we’re inching closer to the next captain of the Vancouver Canucks. Or, perhaps, to an acknowledged lack thereof.

Traditionally, captain announcements happen at one of two times. It’s either at some sort of preseason press conference, like with Quinn Hughes, or it’s at a pre-game ceremony at the team’s first home game, like with Bo Horvat.

Either way, the Canucks have less than a month to make their decision.

For the Canucks to not name a captain for the 2026-27 season would not be entirely surprising, or unfitting. As of this writing, the Canucks are one of nine NHL teams without a captain, and that doesn’t include the Detroit Red Wings, whose captain requested a trade this offseason. That’s a third of the league currently going captainless, and so if the Canucks – one of the youngest teams in the league, coming off a last-place finish – decide to go without, it won’t seem entirely out of place.

But even a non-decision is a decision, and something the Canucks would have to announce prior to the season. In any case, an announcement is coming. But before it does, we’ve got one last bold prediction to make.

And that bold prediction is that Luke Schenn is named the 16^th captain of the Vancouver Canucks.

There are really only three other candidates at this point: Brock Boeser, Filip Hronek, or no one. To get to the point where Schenn makes sense, let’s first go through the others.

Boeser is the longest-tenured Canuck, Guillaume Brisebois aside, and stands out as one of the finest people to ever put on the jersey. His moral standing is fairly impeccable, especially by the standards of a modern NHL player, and he makes a fine role model for youth.

But Boeser leaves a lot to be desired as an on-ice leader. He’s never played with much pace, and has slowed down considerably as he’s aged. His efforts are consistent, but his results no longer are. The discrepancy between Boeser’s performance and his contract is already significant, and that seems unlikely to change as he continues to get older.

Plus, Boeser is under contract for the next six years, and it’s unclear whether the Canucks will ever be able to move that deal. Name Boeser captain now, and you’re faced with a potentially uncomfortable decision of how to name someone else captain down the road. It’s a problem that is easily avoided by just keeping Boeser at his current station of elder statesman and alternate captain.

The length of contract is also a factor for Hronek. He, too, is signed until 2032. But he’s almost the opposite of Boeser in terms of that potential leadership impact. On the ice, Hronek has developed into someone the Canucks can rely on, and that was proven doubly true following the Hughes trade. Off the ice, Hronek is reportedly a steady and at times vocal mentor, but he’s also someone who has a clear dislike for media interactions and some of the other public-facing duties that traditionally go with a captaincy.

On the whole, we think what happens on the ice and behind the closed doors of the dressing room is more important than what happens at a press conference, and for those reasons, it’s hard to see Hronek ever being an outright bad choice as captain. But then we get back to the contract, and the decision is less clear-cut.

Name Hronek captain now, and he’s on the books for the next six years. The Canucks would probably like to trade Hronek in a couple of years when his no-movement clause turns into a modified no-trade clause, but then the optics of cashing in on one’s captain for future-based assets is never ideal, and could harm team chemistry. Or, alternatively, the team might decide to hang on to Hronek for the duration, at which point he’s kind of ensconced as the captain. Should someone from the young core step into a natural leadership role, the team is then faced with an awkward choice.

In other words, name Hronek captain now, and the team has to be prepared to have him be captain all the way through to 2032. That’s a big commitment, and might not be very wise for a rebuilding team.

The easy choice, then, might be to just wait another season before making any commitment. But we’re not so sure that the ‘no captain’ option is the right one for the Canucks. They’re at a crucial point in their existence as a franchise, not only at the cusp of a rebuild, but at the tail-end of an internal turmoil that tore apart their dressing room. If there was ever a team in need of a clear-cut leadership structure, it’s these Canucks.

But what if there was a way to give the Canucks a quality captain right now and kick the long-term decision on captaincy a little further down the road? Enter: Captain Schenn.

It’s fair to say that Schenn has earned this distinction by this point in his career. He’s already played 1122 NHL games (and 60 more in the playoffs), worn the ‘A’ on several occasions, and has generally become one of the most respected warriors in the game.

On the ice, he’s everything someone might want in a classic, old-school sort of captain. He leads by example, sacrificing his own body in every which way. He constantly sticks up for his teammates against the toughest individuals the league has to offer. He’s vocal, and consistently positive, unless the situation calls for something else. Most will remember Schenn appearing to put an irate JT Miller in his place after a game back in 2022.

History probably shows that the Canucks could have used a little more of that following Schenn’s departure.

To name a player who is just arriving to the team as captain might seem strange, but then this is Schenn’s third tour of duty with the Canucks. There are only a handful of players still left from 2022-23 at this point, but Schenn’s reputation with those players is strong, and some of that has surely been passed down to the new generation.

It’s hard not to see him being welcomed into the role warmly by his teammates. And unlike most incoming players, you certainly don’t need to sell the fans on Schenn or his personal qualities.

We also cannot discount the public-facing side of all this. It’s not just the organization itself that is in a precarious place, but also the fanbase. Sure, most have vocally embraced the rebuild at this point in time, but that will be tested by further losing seasons. Part of allowing GM Ryan Johnson and Co. the space to be truly patient with the rebuild involves keeping the fans on board, and the Canucks’ captain can play an important role in that.

With that in mind, check out some of the statements Schenn has already dropped since signing with the Canucks.

Shortly after signing with the team, Schenn said:

“I truly care about what’s taking place here and obviously who is running the ship in terms of coaches and management and everything, I really care about the Canucks and the direction they’re going in. When this opportunity came up and I was able to help be a part of it and they saw me as a guy that can help do that, I was pumped to take a strong look at this offer and make it work.”

Schenn then moved on to talk about the specific sort of mentorship he’d be providing, explaining that:

“It starts with the little habits which are big habits at the end of the day,” he explained. “Practice habits every day, simple things, doing it correctly putting the pass on the tape, battling in practice, not taking short cuts in the gym. In the game, doing the correct thing no matter what the circumstance is and continuing to work toward whatever you’re trying to achieve. It’s not being negative when things are going wrong. It’s continuing to be positive and having fun. I think the biggest thing is the want to compete and the hate to lose. It’s work at the end of the day, that’s what it is. You can’t be taking shortcuts when you’re trying to build something.”

And if that didn’t sell you, here’s Schenn talking about team culture just this week:

“Obviously, everyone’s got to get along and bring a good energy to the room, but also hold each other accountable. On the ice, it’s work ethic and compete. Not just going out there and working, but also, you’ve got to play well. You’ve got to execute. Good culture is when you play, and guys are happy that you made the play to them and set them up…

On top of that, you’ve got to be positive; have a common goal and push each other. You could get into it all day about what that word means; it’s used a lot in broad terms. But there’s a lot of different ways to spin it and a lot of ways we’re going to chip away, work at it, and build something.”

We’d never suggest that Schenn is actively campaigning for the Canucks’ captaincy. He seems like a far too humble individual to ever consider that. But if he were campaigning for the captaincy, we’d say he’s doing a damn fine job of it on these quotes alone.

Schenn’s contract is for one year. Naming him captain is, thus, only a one-year commitment. (In fact, if Schenn gets traded at the deadline, it might even be less than that.) Even if Schenn were to re-sign past this season, it would almost certainly be for another one-year term.

By naming him captain now, the Canucks get both a terrific captain and can avoid making a long-term decision on their leadership until they’re more ready to do so, and until the youth movement has had a chance to make more of an impact. That he might not play every night isn’t even necessarily a problem. It could be seen as a feature of his captaincy that allows plenty of space for the younger folks to step up themselves.

It makes so much sense, we’re not even sure it qualifies as a bold prediction anymore.