Connor McDavid has worn a lot of labels throughout his career: generational talent, Hart Trophy winner, the best player on the planet. Now he can add another one: captain of Team Canada.
With Sidney Crosby sidelined and unable to suit up, Canada faced a situation that, under IIHF rules, required them to dress a captain. There’s no leaving the 'C' vacant, no symbolic gesture of keeping it open in Sid’s honour. Someone had to wear it, and the choice was about as straightforward as they come. You put it on the best player in hockey. You put it on Connor McDavid.
Nathan MacKinnon slots in wearing the A, which is its own kind of statement. Two of the most dominant forwards of their generation sharing alternate captain duties is the sort of thing that makes opposing coaches lose sleep. It’s worth acknowledging, even if it almost gets lost in the shuffle of everything else going on.
McDavid stepping into the captaincy role has been one of the quieter but more compelling storylines of this tournament. Head coach Jon Cooper has noticed the shift firsthand.
“Everybody was looking to Sid in that tournament. Guys like (Drew) Doughty and (Brad) Marchand, the guys that have been there for a number of years, were the more vocal guys who stepped up,” Cooper said. “But I’m seeing much more out of the group now, especially Connor. Not that he wasn’t comfortable, but I think there was a lot of uncertainty, especially because we hadn’t seen best-on-best and this group hadn’t been together for so long. In this tournament, he’s been fabulous.”
Fabulous doesn’t get thrown around lightly. Cooper means it. McDavid has been everything Canada needed him to be, not just as a player who can take over a game with his skates, but as someone whose presence in the room carries weight.
Drew Doughty, one of the most decorated international players Canada has ever produced, summed up what it’s like to share a locker room with McDavid as well as anyone could.
“Never played against a player like him in my entire career,” Doughty said. “Great guy off the ice, fun to hang around. And then when it’s game time, he’s dialled in and ready to go. And he puts that jersey on, and he’s the best player on the ice every night. It’s crazy.”
Coming from Doughty, that means something. This is a guy who has played alongside and against the best players of a generation. When he says he’s never seen anything like McDavid, you believe him.
As for filling the void Crosby leaves, Doughty was candid about the reality Canada faces.
“We got tons of guys that can step up and fill the leadership void. Obviously, it’s almost impossible to fill the player void. But we’ll do our best.”
Nobody is pretending McDavid replaces what Crosby brings; that would be an unfair standard to hold anyone to. But Canada didn’t hand McDavid the C out of desperation. They gave it to him because, at this point in his career, on this stage, he’s earned it.
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