The Chicago Blackhawks made a smart captain announcement

The Chicago Blackhawks are a team currently in transition. They no longer have Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, or Duncan Keith as their leadership group anymore. The team has moved on from that core and it is a new day for NHL hockey in Chicago.

Replacing Jonathan Toews as the captain of this franchise is going to be a very difficult task. He is one of the greatest captains that the NHL has ever seen and certainly the best in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks. Whoever they choose needs to be worthy of that job.

On Tuesday, general manager Kyle Davidson made their intentions clear for the 2023-24 season. They are not going to name a captain and have three alternates throughout the year. That is not a bad thing as it will be a leadership group done by a committee.

Even if there is one captain, things still need to be done by a committee so this may prep the team for what is needed once a true captain is named. This was a very smart decision by the Blackhawks on the eve of training camp.

The Chicago Blackhawks made a very smart captain announcement on Tuesday.

Kyle Davidson and everyone around him clearly have a good grasp on the team and the situation that they are in. We have seen many NHL teams name a captain too early or too late. We have even seen them name the wrong player before which is never good.

There are a few candidates for the alternate captain role this season. Seth Jones and Connor Murphy are likely to have that honor no matter what. They have both worn letters for the Blackhawks in the past.

Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Johnson are two players that have been with the Blackhawks before that makes sense as well. Both of those guys have been around the league a little bit now and could be good leaders in the right situations.

There are also some new faces who are more than capable of being alternate captains right away. Nick Foligno has literally been a captain before as he was the captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets for a long time.

Taylor Hall and Corey Perry are also both former Hart Trophy winners and wore an “A” with the teams they did that with. Now, they are in Chicago to help them grow their franchise back into a contender. All of these guys mentioned need to be leaders on and off the ice whether they have an “A” or not.

Obviously, the long-term plan is likely to have Connor Bedard be the next captain. He has been a captain a lot in his career at lower levels and he surely will be in the NHL as well. Young guys get named to be the captain of their team all the time but never in year one.

Getting Bedard to that level is clearly all the Blackhawks care about. He is an elite player and sometimes that gives you the responsibility to lead at one point or another. This was a very smart announcement and it should work out well for them.