Following Quinn Hughes' departure, the Vancouver Canucks have a vacancy at captain, and they have multiple players who can take the mantle.
Now that Quinn Hughes has been traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the Minnesota Wild, the Canucks are without a captain.
Hughes wore the ‘C’ for Vancouver since the 2023-24 campaign, taking on that role one season after former captain Bo Horvat was traded to the New York Islanders.
There are a handful of candidates who could take over the main leadership duties of the Canucks, and that’s if the brass wants to name a new captain. With that, they are the only Canadian team in the NHL without a captain.
Tyler Myers, D
Tyler Myers is the oldest player on the Canucks roster at 35 years old. With that, he’s one of the longest tenured Canucks on the team.
This is his seventh straight season with Vancouver. In that time, he’s featured in 462 contests and has averaged 20:57 of ice time. He’s been a force on the back end and a staple in crucial situations defensively.
Myers has been one of the Canucks’ alternate captains for the past two seasons, and maybe the letter ‘A’ will change to a ‘C’ sometime in the near future.
Brock Boeser, RW
Brock Boeser is the longest-tenured active player on the Canucks. Vancouver drafted the right winger in the first round of the 2015 draft and has played parts of 10 seasons since then, making his debut in the 2016-17 campaign.
Boeser proved his loyalty to the Canucks franchise when he signed a seven-year contract in the off-season. He’ll be earning $7.25 million per season through 2031-32.
Like Myers, the 28-year-old has been an alternate captain with Vancouver for the past two seasons. He also wore the ‘A’ for the University of North Dakota in 2016-17, but never a ‘C.’
Elias Pettersson, C
Elias Pettersson isn’t the loudest or most ferocious player on the ice, but he has been a cornerstone center for the Canucks since entering the league in 2018-19.
Pettersson has worn the ‘A’ the longest compared to Myers and Boeser. Not to mention his 102-point campaign in 2022-23, the eighth most in a season by a Canuck.
Furthermore, barring a trade, the 27-year-old center is here to stay as he’s locked in through 2031-32. Pettersson earns $11.6 million per season, the highest cap hit on the team.
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