Winnipeg Jets Surprise Everyone, Strip Wheeler of Captaincy

The Winnipeg Jets are doing much more than changing coaches in an effort to alter the leadership of the team.

Rick Bowness, who coached the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, was brought into the Jets organization this summer after former head coach Paul Maurice parted ways with the team last season.

While Winnipeg hopes that he can help guide this team back to the playoffs after missing out last season, Bowness and the organization seem to think that greater change is necessary. As a result, Blake Wheeler will no longer be the captain of the Jets.

In fact, the Jets will have no captain on their roster, as the team reportedly wants to use a team of alternate captains over one man with a C on his sweater.

Blake Wheeler is no longer the captain of the Winnipeg Jets.

Wheeler’s time with the franchise dates back to its existence in the Southeast Division as the Atlanta Thrashers. He has spent 11 and a half seasons with the Thrashers/Jets, playing in 825 games in that time.

He had served as the captain since 2016, making him one of the NHL’s longest-tenured captains prior to Friday’s announcement.

After a poor season last year, I feel like the Jets missed an opportunity to become competitive again in the 2022-2023 season. Now, it feels like Winnipeg is in shambles. That’s not to say that a change at captain can’t be positive, but it doesn’t have a good feel to it.

I mean, when was the last time a team stripped a player of his captaincy and saw major improvement as a result?

When I think of stripped captaincies, I think of the San Jose Sharks, who have never excelled in the playoffs, regardless of who wore the C, and the Buffalo Sabres and their unfortunate situation with Jack Eichel.

The Los Angeles Kings moving from Dustin Brown to Anze Kopitar is the most successful precedent, but that situation is different, as the Jets will opt to not have a captain at all this year.

Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey are the players currently listed as alternate captains for the Jets, but it remains to be seen how the leadership group in Winnipeg’s locker room will be formed.

Regardless of what the solution turns out to be, stripping Wheeler of his captain duties leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I don’t think that it will prove to fix anything for the Jets.