Vegas Golden Knights: 5 players who should be considered for Captain
We are in the thick of the offseason and the Vegas Golden Knights have done a good job of ticking off the majority of items on their summer to-do list.
For instance, franchise center William Karlsson was locked down to a eight-year, $47,200,00 contract early on in the offseason while locker room leader Deryk Engelland was also brought back on fresh terms by the Vegas Golden Knights.
Depth players in the ilk of Tomas Nosek and Brandon Pirri were also handed new deals to remain in Sin City, as was Malcolm Subban who will now face competition for the backup goalie position following the acquisition of Garret Sparks in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs last week.
In-fact, the only big question mark remaining for the Golden Knights is the future of restricted free agent Nikita Gusev, who is holding out for a two-year deal worth $4 million per year. More moves will have to be made by Vegas in order to free up the cap space needed to bring the Russian stud back to Sin City, and whether that happens or not remains to be seen.
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However, there is one other question that still needs answering and that’s whether or not the Vegas Golden Knights will anoint someone as the first-ever Captain in franchise history for 2019-20. They have operated a rule by committee approach during their first two years of existence with a number of players wearing the “A” on their jersey.
The likes of Engelland, Reilly Smith, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Max Pacioretty have all served as Alternate Captains at one point or another for the Golden Knights, while Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the undisputed locker room leaders and someone who helps to set the tone on and off the ice for the franchise.
However, getting ready for their third year as an NHL franchise, it is about time Vegas decide on the best candidate to wear the coveted “C” on their jersey and there are a plethora of worthy candidates currently in the locker room.
Of course, they aren’t the only NHL team without an official Captain with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks currently without a Captain.
We’ve gone through the options and picked out five players who boast all the credentials and qualities needed to become the first Vegas Golden Knights Captain in franchise history, starting with someone who many would say is the obvious choice…