logo
CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
The Canucks shouldn’t name a new captain next season | Wagner’s Weekly
alt
Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Daniel Wagner
Mar 1, 2026, 17:30 ESTUpdated: Mar 1, 2026, 17:21 EST
Comments
It feels like the Vancouver Canucks have been manufacturing consent for a Filip Hronek captaincy for a couple of months now.
There has been a drastic increase in Hronek being made available to the media and actually answering questions, albeit with few words. The Canucks released a video extolling Hronek’s virtues as a leader. Rick Dhaliwal reported he’s hearing Hronek will be the next captain.
And then Jim Rutherford outright said that Hronek is a candidate for the job.
“We haven’t got to that point yet; that will be a discussion in the summer,” said Rutherford on the 100% Hockey podcast. “But in my opinion, he would be on that very short list for sure. He has all the qualities to be a very good captain. What you see on the ice is what you see off the ice. He’s a leader.”
Hronek absolutely is a leader for this Canucks team. He’s far more vocal on the ice and in the room than he is in interviews, and he’s played a key role as a mentor for the team’s young defence corps.
That said, it’s fair to ask whether Hronek is the right fit as captain. After all, the captain of an NHL team isn’t just a leader; he’s the public face of the team, expected to speak on behalf of the team in the media or directly to the fans. 
That’s not a role Hronek seems particularly interested in, even as he’s increased his availability this season. He once famously went 1,000 days with the Detroit Red Wings without a single media interview, so the handful of postgame pressers he’s done feel like a massive amount in comparison.
If Hronek were made captain, however, he’d have to talk more. A lot more. And not just about the game on the ice, but about events surrounding the team off the ice, or perhaps even moments in the wider world, as Bo Horvat had to with COVID and the Black Lives Matter protests.
Maybe that’s okay. Hronek might step up when asked to speak more frequently and be more comfortable with it than anyone expects.
But here’s the real question, aside from whether Hronek is a fit for the role: Why do the Canucks need a captain at all?
The Canucks have just started a rebuild and, as much as they seem to believe they’ll be competitive as early as next season, it’s more likely that fans are in for some lean years in Vancouver. 
The Canucks are a rebuilding team with a lot of work ahead of them before they can be considered a contender to even make the playoffs, let alone win a Stanley Cup. There’s plenty of time for a true captain to naturally emerge, rather than just handing the “C” to one of the few veterans still on the roster.
Being the captain of a rebuilding team is a thankless job. So, why have one?
The Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks decided to go without a captain this season. The Toronto Maple Leafs once went three seasons without a captain before John Tavares took on the captaincy and the captain’s C.
Jim Benning had more misses than hits in his time as general manager of the Canucks, but one of his best decisions was to forego naming a captain for the 2018-19 season. Instead, the Canucks had four alternate captains who rotated who was wearing an “A” on the ice. Then, when Bo Horvat was finally named captain in 2019, it felt special and significant, and it happened to coincide with the Canucks finally getting back to the playoffs.
As has often been said by players and coaches, you don’t need a letter on your chest to be a leader. Hronek can be a leader and a mentor without the “C,” especially since the public-facing aspect of the captaincy isn’t exactly his bailiwick.
Right now, the Canucks don’t have a player who makes sense as a captain. In fact, it has felt like there’s been a leadership void with the Canucks for a while now, with some of the players who were supposed to be leaders more of a source of drama than leadership, and Quinn Hughes as captain, unable to quell those tensions.
If none of the players currently in the room have been able to keep the team on track, maybe the next captain of the Canucks isn’t in that room yet.
So, maybe the Canucks should hold off on naming a captain until a leader emerges who is deserving of the honour.
Sponsored by bet365

Editorials

Breaking News