One of the greatest honors in hockey is to be named captain of a team.
Donning the "C" comes with incredible responsibility as a player becomes the team's leader. Players like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby were given the letter when they were just a few seasons into their NHL careers. Others, like Patrice Bergeron, could have been a captain for the majority of their careers but earned captain status in their older age.
This offseason, a couple of new captains named, one player was stripped of the "C," and a few teams lost their leader to retirement or free agency.
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Here is a look at the captains and alternate captains for the 2022-23 NHL season.
Which NHL teams have new captains?
Three teams head into the season with new captains.
The Rangers named defenseman Jacob Trouba the 28th captain in franchise history in August. The 28-year-old was one of the team's alternate captains prior to his appointment. He's New York's first captain since Ryan McDonagh from 2014-18.
The Canadiens named forward Nick Suzuki the 31st captain in their franchise history. At 23, he is the youngest captain in club history. He also wore an "A" last season. Suzuki succeeds Shea Weber, whose contract was traded to the Golden Knights.
The Sabres named Kyle Okposo the newest captain of the team. He was previously the alternate captain last year when no one on the team wore the "C". Jack Eichel was the previous captain, but he had his captaincy stripped ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Which NHL teams don't have a captain?
Six NHL teams have not designated someone to wear the "C" for the 2022-23 season: the Ducks, Coyotes, Flames, Flyers, Kraken and Jets.
The Coyotes traded Oliver Ekman-Larsson to the Canucks in the summer of 2021. That same summer, the Flames lost Mark Giordano to the Kraken in the expansion draft.
The Flyers traded Claude Giroux at the 2022 deadline to the Panthers. With Ryan Getzlaf retiring at the end of last season, the Ducks are without a captain.
This offseason, the Jets stripped Blake Wheeler of his captaincy, a position he held from the 2016-17 season through the 2021-22 season. They have yet to name a replacement.
The Kraken have yet to name a captain as they enter their second season in the NHL.
NHL 2022-23 captains and alternate captains
A list of the captains and alternate captains for the 32 NHL teams.
| Team | Captain | Alternate captains |
|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Ducks | Vacant | Jakob Silfverberg, Cam Fowler, Adam Henrique |
| Arizona Coyotes | Vacant | Jakob Chychrun |
| Boston Bruins | Patrice Bergeron | Brad Marchand, David Krejci |
| Buffalo Sabres | Kyle Okposo | Zemgus Girgensons, Rasmus Dahlin |
| Calgary Flames | Vacant | Mikael Backlund, Chris Tanev |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Jordan Staal | Sebastian Aho, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin |
| Chicago Blackhawks | Jonathan Toews | Patrick Kane, Connor Murphy, Seth Jones |
| Colorado Avalanche | Gabriel Landeskog | Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Boone Jenner | Gustav Nyquist, Zach Werenski |
| Dallas Stars | Jamie Benn | Esa Lindell, Joe Pavelski, Tyler Seguin |
| Detroit Red Wings | Dylan Larkin | Vacant |
| Edmonton Oilers | Connor McDavid | Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse |
| Florida Panthers | Aleksander Barkov | Aaron Ekblad, Patric Hornqvist |
| Los Angeles Kings | Anze Kopitar | Drew Doughty |
| Jared Spurgeon | Minnesota Wild | Matt Dumba, Marcus Foligno |
| Montreal Canadiens | Nick Suzuki | Joel Edmundson, Brendan Gallagher |
| Nashville Predators | Roman Josi | Mattias Ekholm, Filip Forsberg, Mikael Granlund, Ryan Johansen |
| New Jersey Devils | Nico Hischier | Dougie Hamilton, Damon Severson, Miles Wood |
| New York Islanders | Anders Lee | Josh Bailey, Cal Clutterbuck |
| New York Rangers | Jacob Trouba | Barclay Goodrow, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad |
| Ottawa Senators | Brady Tkachuk | Thomas Chabot, Claude Giroux |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Vacant | Sean Couturier, Kevin Hayes, Ivan Provorov |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Sidney Crosby | Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin |
| San Jose Sharks | Logan Couture | Mario Ferraro, Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson, Nick Bonino |
| Seattle Kraken | Vacant | Jordan Eberle, Yanni Gourde, Adam Larsson, Jaden Schwartz |
| St. Louis Blues | Ryan O'Reilly | Colton Parayko, Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Steven Stamkos | Victor Hedman, Alex Killorn |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | John Tavares | Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, Jake Muzzin, Morgan Reilly |
| Vancouver Canucks | Bo Horvat | Oliver Ekman-Larsson, J.T. Miller, Tyler Myers |
| Vegas Golden Knights | Mark Stone | Alex Pietrangelo, Reilly Smith |
| Washington Capitals | Alex Ovechkin | Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson |
| Winnipeg Jets | Vacant | Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey, Adam Lowry |
