NHL: The best captain in each team’s history (Updated 2023)

Best NHL captain from each franchise: Los Angeles Kings – Wayne Gretzky

Every single time you mention the term GOAT to a hockey fan, only one name comes to mind. A player so elite, he will forever be referred to as “The Great One” not only in the hockey world but in all professional sports. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the best captain in the history of the Los Angeles Kings belongs to Wayne Gretzky.

After the infamous trade that sent Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the Kings, he had an immediate impact upon arrival. It was quite controversial at the time considering that nobody in a million years would ever believe they’d see Gretzky in another team’s jersey but he still had the respect of Oilers fans and hockey fans worldwide after being traded abruptly.

Even though he never won a Stanley Cup after his 10-year tenure with the Oilers, he brought legitimacy to the Kings and helped put Los Angeles on the map. Hockey fans wanted to see Gretzky and it resulted in a plethora of tickets being sold, television ratings rising, and genuine excitement over what could happen with Gretzky doing what he does best.

It’s unfortunate that during that eight-year tenure on the Kings, they never got a championship out of it but Gretzky did get them to the Stanley Cup playoffs in his first season there. He also got to eliminate his old team, the Oilers, during that postseason run in 1988 which makes that one of the many bright spots of his time as captain of the Kings.