The Buffalo Sabres named Swedish star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin their new captain Thursday. That increases the global impact of NHL players wearing their team's 'C.'
The Buffalo Sabres named Swedish star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin their new captain Thursday. That increases the global impact of NHL players wearing their team's 'C.'
The Buffalo Sabres revealed star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin Thursday as their new captain, raising the number of Swedish-born NHL captains to four.
A big-picture look at the list of NHL captains shows a fascinating evolution of the job and the international nature of the modern-day captaincy. And Dahlin joins the list as the NHL's first captain born in the 2000s.
Canada remains the biggest home for captains with 12 Canadian-born 'C'-holders in total, including Boston’s Brad Marchand, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby.
The country with the next-most captains is the United States, which has eight, including Detroit’s Dylan Larkin, Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk, Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes.
After that, Sweden is next, with Dahlin, Calgary’s Mikael Backlund, Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog and Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman.
Here's the full list, keeping in mind the Seattle Kraken and Utah Hockey Club are the only NHL teams without a captain. While some players have multiple nationalities, including Sean Couturier and Adam Lowry, we're going by how they appear on NHL.com.
Canada (12): Brad Marchand, Jordan Staal, Boone Jenner, Jamie Benn, Connor McDavid, Jared Spurgeon, Nick Suzuki, Sean Couturier, Sidney Crosby, Logan Couture, Brayden Schenn, Mark Stone
United States (8): Dylan Larkin, Anders Lee, Jacob Trouba, Brady Tkachuk, Nick Foligno, Auston Matthews, Quinn Hughes, Adam Lowry
Sweden (4): Rasmus Dahlin, Mikael Backlund, Gabriel Landeskog, Victor Hedman
Switzerland (2): Roman Josi, Nico Hischier
Czechia (1): Radko Gudas
Finland (1): Aleksander Barkov
Russia (1): Alexander Ovechkin
Slovenia (1): Anze Kopitar
In any case, the game's growth is reflected in the widening scope of captains. Some old-school hockey types might want North Americans to comprise all of the NHL’s captains, but the reality is the leadership qualities you want in a captain can be found in any nation.
You don’t have to be a superstar, either. Gudas, who just got the ‘C’ in Anaheim, isn’t a truly elite player, nor are Jenner, Foligno and Lowry, as some examples.
That said, Grade-A talents often have it in them to be front-and-center leaders. Matthews was just named the Leafs’ captain, while McDavid, Ovechkin, Crosby, and Barkov are all the best players on their respective teams.
There are many NHL players between those two poles, but all of them lead by example. While teams can opt not to name captains for short periods, sooner or later, someone deserving of the honor comes along. Jordan Eberle and Adam Larsson could be options in Seattle, while Clayton Keller stands out for Utah.
Buffalo Goes Global
Dahlin isn’t Buffalo’s first European captain – the Sabres also have given the ‘C’ to Alexander Mogilny (Russia), Miroslav Satan (Slovakia), Jochen Hecht (Germany), Toni Lydman (Finland), Jaroslav Spacek (Czechia), and Thomas Vanek (Austria).
That said, the 24-year-old Dahlin is likely to be one of the longest-serving captains in team history. He's in the first year of an eight-year deal worth $11 million per season, and the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NHL draft almost has 300 points after six seasons, with 282 in 436 games.
“He does everything right, first and foremost,” Ruff said in the Sabres' announcement. “His on-ice action has been incredible, and I think he’s a guy that leads in every category, from the way he prepares himself to the way he plays and the fact that he’s a guy who cares about winning hockey games.”
Conveniently, the Sabres named Dahlin their captain while in Germany ahead of the NHL Global Series Challenge exhibition against Munich's Deutsche Eishockey League club on Friday.
Long gone are the days when only Canadians and Americans were considered captain material, and as the sport has grown, so have the number of leadership opportunities available to players across the planet has grown as well.
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