The Columbus Blue Jackets announced this week they would be playing the 2026-27 season without a captain. The easy choice would be star defenseman Zach Werenski, but their decision not to speaks volumes about where they are as a team and where Werenski may fit into their long-term plans.
To say the past year has not been kind to the Columbus Blue Jackets would be a major understatement.
They failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for a sixth consecutive season, and the off-season changes GM Don Waddell made this summer were ranked by The Hockey News as the sixth-worst off-season of any team in the NHL.
For as bad as the summer was to the Blue Jackets, it could've been worse. Reports indicated a Zach Werenski trade was nearly completed with the Dallas Stars before the Norris Trophy winner enforced his no-trade clause.
This week, Waddell pulled off a massive blockbuster trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, sending Kirill Marchenko to Toronto in a six-player deal headlined by Matthew Knies.
In fairness, the Knies-Marchenko swap did bring in some long-term puzzle pieces for Columbus, but it's a telling bit of news Thursday that the Blue Jackets decided not to name a captain this season. And specifically, it's all got to do with risk management when it comes to the future of Werenski.
What would the optics look like if Waddell gave the captaincy to Werenski right now, only to have him demand a trade next summer or sooner? It would be devastating to the Blue Jackets' brand, and it would signal the start of another extensive and painful rebuilding process.
Ask the Detroit Red Wings how they feel in the wake of now-former captain Dylan Larkin wanting out of town. The Red Wings once were the gold standard for NHL franchises, but when your captain tries to flee the scene – and in Larkin's case, when you’re playing in your home state, and you still want out – it's catastrophic.
So, with there still being the potential of a Werenski trade down the line, there was no way the Blue Jackets were going to give him the 'C'.
Many teams present the captaincy to their best player, similarly to the way the Boston Bruins just did with star winger David Pastrnak. But in this case, it's best for Columbus to bide their time and see which players make the best case to earn the captain's job.
Maybe that player eventually is star center Adam Fantilli. The 21-year-old just signed a six-year contract, so his commitment to the Jackets is clear. So Fantilli is the most likely choice for captain, but it reflects well on Waddell that he’s essentially asking Fantilli to earn the honor.
In addition, the Blue Jackets got a very good player in Knies, who'll almost certainly be an alternate captain down the line. But he's got to show that he's going to be a happy camper in Columbus as the organization tries to rise through the Metropolitan Division ranks.
If Werenski was willing to firmly commit to the Blue Jackets for the long-term, it's an easy choice to make him captain. However, even with both Werenski and Waddell trying to reinforce the blueliners love for the city and interest in competing for the franchise throughout the summer, this decision would suggest the door for a trade is still open.
That means Blue Jackets fans will have to be patient before they see someone wearing the 'C'. The Knies-Marchenko blockbuster trade sent a message that a new generation of the team is now being built, and eventually, it will make sense for one young player or another to get the captaincy.
The fact it isn't happening right now speaks to the significant challenges ahead for this organization.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free.
See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
