The Three Youngest Players To Be Named Captain In NHL History
Being a captain of an NHL team is not an easy task. They are the face of the franchise, the one player who represents his team to the fans as well as on the ice when the game is on the line. There have been a lot of great captains in NHL history, and there have been a lot of young players given the letter.
The Three Youngest Players To Be Named Captain In NHL History
Of the five youngest captains in NHL history, four of them have come in the salary cap era, and four of the five have led their team to Stanley Cups.
Being named captain has to be one of the biggest honors in the NHL, but to be captain at such a young age just adds something even more exciting to the mix.
With teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks and Seattle Kraken all not having a captain heading into the 2023-24 season, there are a lot of potential young stars who could take on the letter.
Connor Bedard will definitely be a leader with the Blackhawks, and Trevor Zegras could very well be the next captain in Anaheim. Today though let’s look back at some of the youngest captains the NHL has ever seen.
All three have a few things in common. They are still with their current team and all have had a lot of success with their franchise.
Sidney Crosby captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Sidney Crosby was named captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins on May 31, 2007 at just 19 years and 297 days old. When looking at the youngest players in league history we have to take days into account, there is only about a month of age difference between Crosby and the number one youngest captain.
Crosby has led the Pittsburgh Penguins to four Stanley Cup Finals and has won the Stanley Cup three times, 2009, 2016 and 2017. He has played over 1000 games in the NHL and has scored 550 goals in his career.
The Penguins franchise changed forever when they drafted Crosby first overall in 2005, he was a no brainer to be named captain of the team, and he is not done yet with maybe anotherpotential run at the Stanley Cup set to come this season.
Gabriel Landeskog captain of the Colorado Avalanche
Gabriel Landeskog was named captain of the Colorado Avalanche on Sept. 4, 2012, a year after he was drafted second overall by the Avs at the 2011 NHL Draft.
Landeskog might have been named captain in September of 2012 at the age of 19 years and 286 days old, but he did not get to play as captain until January of 2013 because of the lockout that went on at the time.
In 738 games with the Avalanche he has put up 571 points, and has managed to win the Avs a Stanley Cup something they did in 2022. During their run Landeskog scored 11 goals and registered 22 points in 20 games.
Landeskog is still captain of the Avalanche, but he did miss the entirety of last season with a knee injury. He also is expected to miss all of this upcoming season as well. Hopefully Avalanche fans will get to watch their captain play again soon!
Connor McDavid captain of the Edmonton Oilers
The youngest captain in NHL history is the only one in the top three to have not won a Stanley Cup with their team. Connor McDavid was named captain of the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 5, 2016 at the age of 19 years and 266 days. Just a week later he played his first game as captain.
In McDavid’s first season as captain he won the Art Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award. he led the league in assists and points that season with 100 points throughout the 82 game season.
McDavid has won his fair share of awards throughout his eight year NHL career thus far. He has won the Art Ross five times, the Maurice Richard trophy once, three Hart Trophies and four Ted Lindsay Awards, but he has not won the Stanley Cup yet, maybe this season will be his year.
Now, the Chicago Blackhawks have decided to go into the 2023-24 season without a captain, which many think is the right move. Should the Hawks decide to name Connor Bedard as captain at the end of the season or even right before the 2024-25 season he would still be the youngest captain in NHL history, but we will have to wait and see how this year goes.