Vegas Golden Knights: Ranking their captain candidates
By Tyler Samson
The Vegas Golden Knights are one of the six teams in the NHL without a captain. In their second season in the NHL, they need to make a decision on who will be captain.
Since their inaugural season in the 2017-18 season, the Vegas Golden Knights have had a tremendous amount of success (Western Conference Champs in 2017-18 and playoff bound in the 2018-19 season) thanks to conjoined leadership. However, the structure of having multiple alternate captains and locker room leaders must simmer and a true captain has to emerge.
From goal scorers in their prime to grizzled veterans, the Golden Knights have no shortage of qualified leaders to guide the team. During the 2017-18 season, it was understandable that the Golden Knights did not name a captain. The team was trying to find their identity and head coach Gerard Gallant was trying to see who the true leaders were.
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On the same note, in their second season, players are getting extensions (which shows who is going to be in Vegas for the long haul) and Gallant has a chance to see who has been a consistent leader.
With the acquisition of Max Pacioretty (former captain for the Montreal Canadians) and Mark Stone (both who have been extended to long-term deals), the Golden Knights are getting franchise players and leaders.
However, with these acquisitions, the Golden Knights must not overlook veteran players that helped the team reach the Stanley Cup last season, players like Deryk Engelland, Nate Schmidt, and Jonathan Marchessault.
They have a tough decision to make as to who will be captain. However, it is a good problem to have. The team once identified as a “bunch of misfits” seem to have found a home and identity in Vegas. Although fans anticipate that the team will name a captain, the Golden Knights do not have to and continue into next season with only assistant captains.
As described earlier, the Golden Knights have many qualified individuals to serve as captain, but here are the top four that should be the highly considered players to hold the captain vacancy.