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Who should the next captain be when Gionta leaves?


dlbalr

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One of the articles we'll have on the site in the next week or so is a mailbag-type question about who should the next captain be, assuming Brian Gionta doesn't return for next season. We haven't done any Around the Boards segments in a while on the site but I think some opinions and discussion here would be a good complement to the article.

Who should the next captain be? (And why?)

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Gorges no doubt. He is a Canadien through and through. Lays in front of pucks like nobody else and steps up to guys knowing hes gonna get a beating. Good locker room guy and for me the obvious choice

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Georges is my guy for the role. Though he'd have to raise his level of play compared to what he showed at the end of the season. I love his game and think that that kind of willingness to put it all on the line is what holds the most respect. He also handles the media well and gives solid captain-esque interviews already.

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Plekanec. He deserves it.

If he doesn't want it.. I say Prust.. for all the obvious reasons.

A cool surprise pick would be Gallagher.

Essentially, it's PK's to lose.

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I used to scoff when Gorges was mentioned, but after watching 24CH, it's obvious that the team respects him and he takes the role of mentor seriously. After Markov leaves he'll have the longest tenure with the team, and deserves the promotion, as long as his play doesn't drop off. In the future, I can see Tinordi being the Captain for as long as Koivu, listening to him, he already speaks beyond his years, and he's going to be riding shotgun with PK well into the 2020's.

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I don't see Subban becoming captain. Even though he could and probably will be our most dominant player, he will still have this little something in his game that might not please his teammates.

I see two options.

One is to split the captaincy of the next decade in 2. Josh Gorges for the first 1/3 and then the next young player that will the most emerge as a true captain between let's say Tinordi/Galchenyuk/any other.

The other one would be to go the Avalanche/NYI/Chicago way. We kind of did it with Saku in '99 after 4 seasons. It means going with your player that combine the most skills and leadership and name him captain for a multi years commitment. And I mean Galchenyuk.

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I don't see Subban becoming captain. Even though he could and probably will be our most dominant player, he will still have this little something in his game that might not please his teammates.

I see two options.

One is to split the captaincy of the next decade in 2. Josh Gorges for the first 1/3 and then the next young player that will the most emerge as a true captain between let's say Tinordi/Galchenyuk/any other.

The other one would be to go the Avalanche/NYI/Chicago way. We kind of did it with Saku in '99 after 4 seasons. It means going with your player that combine the most skills and leadership and name him captain for a multi years commitment. And I mean Galchenyuk.

Could be a problem with Subban in five years...can you think of a major award winner besides the Calder that isn't a Captain? Maybe all this nonsense with him and Therrien about being a better person is about a future Captaincy. In his first years in the league, Pronger definitely wasn't captain material. I bet Bergevin is shrewd enough to get PK to take less to wear the c in the second half of his deal.

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Josh Gorges is the new Rivet. People like him as a leader for the same reasons they used to dig Craig. Craig became a captain in Buffalo and then was a healthy scratch before his tenure there ended.

The modern NHL uses captains as marketing tools. The Habs don't necessarily need to do that, but you can't underestimate that part of the equation. In that sense, Subban is a no brainer. Plus he handles the media very well, has an insane passion for the club, craves a chance at winning in Montreal and is great in the community. Sure, he can yap on the ice and he'll take a dive, but he's not alone in the NHL for captains that do that, and one team recently won the Cup with a captain much worse at that kind of stuff (hello Dustin Brown).

Leaders are always going to be leaders no matter who has the C. Gorges will still be a leader if he's not the captain but if he takes over the C, and his hard career starts to catch up to him on the other side of 30, we're stuck with a captain that is overpaid and is hardly contributing in the NHL. That's essentially why people are looking beyond Gionta now, even though he's still a very good player when healthy.

I hope Gionta is re-signed because he can still play at both ends of the rink at 35 and not many of our wingers have chops defensively. So hopefully the captaincy doesn't change because we work out a reasonable contract extension with our current guy. But if that can't happen let's just get Subban signed long term and make him the C.

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I bet Bergevin is shrewd enough to get PK to take less to wear the c in the second half of his deal.

Could you explain how that works? First off, PK is paid less for increased responsibility. It would make more sense for him to be paid more if he had the type of leadership role on the team that warranted a C. And then upper level management makes a decision about who the captain will be in the mid-long term future, a choice that should normally be left to the people in the dressing room. I don't think many teams would take kindly to a GM handing out the letters on their jersey in their contracts.

As for the next captain, I think a lot will come down to this next season. If PK shows that he's more of a leader along with being our best player on the ice, then he has a shot. There's a chance Gionta will come back for another year. I don't see Plekanec and Markov as being captain material - they're a little aloof and I'm not sure they inspire their teammates. Giving it to Galchenyuk would be premature, even if he has a breakout year - being the captain in Montreal is totally different from Colorado or Chicago. There are enough veterans on the team to take that responsibility and allow him to focus on playing hockey.

So that leaves Gorges, and if he has a solid year it's his to lose.

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I think a better question would be; if the Canadiens were to select a new captian for this year who should it be? I think it is premature to decide the dynamics of the team for next year.

There's no chance though that the team strips Gionta of his captaincy which makes it moot to suggest. That's why the question is next year.

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Could you explain how that works? First off, PK is paid less for increased responsibility. It would make more sense for him to be paid more if he had the type of leadership role on the team that warranted a C. And then upper level management makes a decision about who the captain will be in the mid-long term future, a choice that should normally be left to the people in the dressing room. I don't think many teams would take kindly to a GM handing out the letters on their jersey in their contracts.

As for the next captain, I think a lot will come down to this next season. If PK shows that he's more of a leader along with being our best player on the ice, then he has a shot. There's a chance Gionta will come back for another year. I don't see Plekanec and Markov as being captain material - they're a little aloof and I'm not sure they inspire their teammates. Giving it to Galchenyuk would be premature, even if he has a breakout year - being the captain in Montreal is totally different from Colorado or Chicago. There are enough veterans on the team to take that responsibility and allow him to focus on playing hockey.

So that leaves Gorges, and if he has a solid year it's his to lose.

Can you explain how any of Bergevin's contracts make sense? He's screwed everyone! I wouldn't put it past him to suggest that PK could be a captain for taking less pay as part of the deal. This happens all the time in business: workers get paid less to have benefits, or get paid less and make a flat rate on bonuses. I don't think it would be tit for tat, i'm sure it would all be implied. "Taking a leadership role with the Canadiens, being paid less is necessary. Foregoing 1.5-3 million per year will allow us to chase top free agents, retain UFA's and prepare for injuries. This would be your team, correct." PK "deal."

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Can you explain how any of Bergevin's contracts make sense? He's screwed everyone! I wouldn't put it past him to suggest that PK could be a captain for taking less pay as part of the deal. This happens all the time in business: workers get paid less to have benefits, or get paid less and make a flat rate on bonuses. I don't think it would be tit for tat, i'm sure it would all be implied. "Taking a leadership role with the Canadiens, being paid less is necessary. Foregoing 1.5-3 million per year will allow us to chase top free agents, retain UFA's and prepare for injuries. This would be your team, correct." PK "deal."

Sorry but that sounds like a ridiculous scenario in the negotiation room. And again, it makes no sense; being the captain isn't a benefit, it's a responsibility. You get paid more for those. It's like saying "hey, I'll give you more minutes if you take less money."

And are you for or against this sort of hypothetical tactic? It seems like you're advocating it but the only reason you believe it's a possibility is because of Bergevin's poor GMing.

We can all forget about PK taking a paycut for whatever reason. He'll get Letang money at least.

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Sorry but that sounds like a ridiculous scenario in the negotiation room. And again, it makes no sense; being the captain isn't a benefit, it's a responsibility. You get paid more for those. It's like saying "hey, I'll give you more minutes if you take less money."

And are you for or against this sort of hypothetical tactic? It seems like you're advocating it but the only reason you believe it's a possibility is because of Bergevin's poor GMing.

We can all forget about PK taking a paycut for whatever reason. He'll get Letang money at least.

I don't think he will. 10 years /55-60 mil, and when he has the C in 2016, well, you heard it here first.

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I don't think he will. 10 years /55-60 mil, and when he has the C in 2016, well, you heard it here first.

Most term he can get is 8 years with the new CBA and there is no way we sign him for less then Karllson go in Ottawa, but given that he signed his deal 2 years ago, Subban will get more then that. Unless Subban really stumbles this year (not likely and I hope he won't), he well get at least what Letang got. I really think MB fXcked up. I felt so at the time and my opinion hasn't changed after his Norris year.

The Isles are going to benefit from having Tavares for 5 years on the cheap, becuase they signed him before his big breakout last year, MB had the same opportunity, but didn't take advantage of it.

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Markov always turns down the C but he's still the most respected player on the team. That's why we call him the General.

It always seemed like fate for Gorges to be our captain but I think Brandon Prust might have usurped him in that role. Both players are around the same age with long term deals with the team so it wouldn't hurt either way.

I'd love to see Subban get the C just for the reaction around the league.

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Guest Stogey24

Markov always turns down the C but he's still the most respected player on the team. That's why we call him the General.

It always seemed like fate for Gorges to be our captain but I think Brandon Prust might have usurped him in that role. Both players are around the same age with long term deals with the team so it wouldn't hurt either way.

I'd love to see Subban get the C just for the reaction around the league.

I think Prust would be an excellent captain.
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Why no talk of Max pac? Amazing work ethic, role model, decent with media, and still young. Pretty good qualifications

He would be the one of the worst choices IMO.

Really hated his game in the playoffs, it's too bad Gallagher didn't have his size or Max had Gallagher's head.

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