Ah, yes, is there anything more important for a new franchise than to decide on the captains? While captains only need to speak formally with game officials so they can get an interpretation of a call or the rules or, if required, the alternate captains (sometimes fans will call the latter assistant captains), you can probably guess that their unofficial duties go beyond that.
If exclusively getting rules interpretations were the case, then why not get your best speaker, slap a ‘C’ onto their jersey and be done with it? This is why you saw so much content out and about this past week about Auston Matthews becoming captain over in Toronto - the role unofficially goes far beyond that.
So, the player who simultaneously serves as the team’s top leader will, and should, always get the job. If we look at who the Arizona Coyotes had as captain last season, you get a vacancy. However, Logan Crouse, Clayton Keller, and Nick Schmaltz all served as alternates.
Who should the Utah Hockey Club name as team captains in 2024-25?
Lawson Crouse is at the optimal age, heading into his age-27 season. He’s also been one of the better scorers in Arizona, having put up 24 and 23 goals, respectively, for the Coyotes over the last two campaigns. He was also a 20-goal scorer in 2021-22, and Crouse has been playing for the Coyotes, and now Utah, since 2016-17.
Clayton Keller may be the popular choice, as he’s arguably the team’s best playmaker heading into 2024-25. Keller is in his age-26 season, and he’s either been near or slightly over the point-per-game mark, putting up 76 with 33 goals for the Coyotes in 2023-24.
And, finally, we got Nick Schmaltz, another dynamic player who put up a career-high 61 points last year. Schmaltz also scored 22 or more goals in each of the past three seasons, and he’s finished each of the past three campaigns with a 13.9 shooting percentage or better.
If I were to guess, one of the three players mentioned above will wear the C, but you can also make an argument that Mikhail Sergachev should snag it. Of course, it could also be none of the above, and Utah could continue what Arizona did last season and roll with a trio of alternates.
(Statistics powered by Hockey-Reference)