For the first time since 2012, the Columbus Blue Jackets are going to have a captain. Earlier this month, John Davidson, president of hockey operations for the Blue Jackets, confirmed to Columbus Business First that the organization knows who the next captain will be.
For the Jackets, a team that for the first time in franchise history had back to back 40-plus win seasons, naming a captain symbolizes taking the next step towards winning a championship.
"I don't think we needed (a captain) the past three years," said Jackets forward Nick Foligno. "Now we're on to the next phase where we know what kind of team we are and I think it's important to have a captain who can really exemplify that each and every night."
But what does being a captain mean?
Foligno, who had a taste of the demands of captaincy when he held that role at the 2015 NHL All-Star Game earlier this year, says communication will be at the forefront for whoever is given the captain title.
"It's one guy to go to," Foligno said. "One guy for coaches to talk to, one guys for management to come down and talk to. He really has the heartbeat of the team in mind, I think it's really good, that's why every team has one."
Forward Scott Hartnell joined the Blue Jackets this season after playing seven seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and he anticipates a captain being someone that's advocating for what the team needs to get better.
"(The captain) is a guy that every night brings it," Hartnell said. "He's someone that can go into the coaches room or management room and say "we need a day off, we look tired today," or "this is where we need to work on this part of our game instead of this." It's someone that has a real pulse of the dressing room."
But who will it be?
The organization and the team have agreed for some time that there are many respected voices in the room. And the players don't seem worried if it is, or is not, any one specific guy.
"Whoever it is. We're going to be proud of him," Hartnell said.
The way this team has grown is a big part of why a few candidates could be in the mix for captain, or alternate captain. The squad has a large group of players who have been together the last three seasons and the core of that group, forwards Brandon Dubinsky, Cam Atkinson, Ryan Johansen, Foligno, and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, all signed significant contracts with the organization this year.
Foligno says that long-term stability for the roster is a characteristic of championship teams and it's also the reason the 27-year-old doesn't believe the naming of any one player as captain will ruffle any feathers.
"Everyone will first of all be happy for him," Foligno said. "It's not like we will be disappointed that one guy didn't get it but I think it's just an understanding that this is the guy we're going rally around, and it might have been a guy we've been rallying around the whole time so who knows?"
Hartnell was one of the players guys seemed to rally around this year. He played his 1000th NHL game this season and became part of one of the team's most exciting lines when skating with rookies Alexander Wennberg and Marko Dano - players he mentored on and off the ice.
Hartnell says he'll leave the evaluation of his candidacy for captain to his teammates and management but it is a role he'd accept if offered.
"I've been around a lot, I've played a lot of years, and I've played in some big games along the way," Hartnell said. "I think what I bring on the ice - I'm working hard. I'm trying my best and that's all you can really ask for."
But Hartnell also said nothing changes for him if he's not a named leader for the team. And he's not the only one. Center Ryan Johansen is coming off a career high year for assists (45) and points (71) and he's content to focus on his game.
"I've got a ton of growing and a lot of learning left to do," Johansen said. "We've got a ton of great captain material guys on this team. To me it doesn't really matter who's named captain because we're all going be the same person and same player no matter what."
Ultimately, regardless of who is named captain, Jackets players see the decision as a tool - a next step - that helps build a successful and winning team.
"It's always good to have these three or four guys that really represent what the team is all about and I'm looking forward to that," Foligno said. "I think this will be another step in turning us into the team we envision we are now.
"It allows us to really grow with this core. It will bode well for everybody."
