After the quick summer departures of the two most popular captains in their history, the Senators will soon have to decide who will captain the team next season and into the future.
With the rapid-fire offseason departures of Brady Tkachuk and Daniel Alfredsson, the two most beloved captains in club history, Senators fans can't wait to turn their attention toward the future and the hope of better days.
One of the biggest questions for the future is who, if anyone, will replace Tkachuk as captain next season.
5. No One
The fifth-ranked and easiest option is going without a captain for next season, as the Senators did for three years after trading Erik Karlsson in 2018.
With Tkachuk gone, there should be a little more oxygen in the room, so the team might want to spend a year seeing which player naturally emerges. Personally, I dislike the notion of a team being captainless. It makes a team feel incomplete, like it's in rebuild, and Sens fans want no part of that word.
But if they decide to name someone before opening night in October, the list clearly comes down to four players.
4. Thomas Chabot
Chabot has been with the Senators longer than any other active player. With Tkachuk gone, he now leads all current Senators with 569 games played, 11th-most in franchise history and just three behind Tkachuk.
Like Tkachuk, Chabot has two years remaining on his contract worth $8 million-ish per season, but it looks like he'll manage to get through this offseason without requesting a trade.
He's worn an "A" for years, he's universally respected in the room, and he's been through both the darkest years of the rebuild and the club's return to playoff hockey.
The only question is whether he's part of the organization's long-term plans beyond his current contract. If there's uncertainty there with fit or money, it could affect any decision about giving him the captaincy.
3. Claude Giroux
Giroux may not have worn the "C" in Ottawa like he did for a decade in Philadelphia, but nobody has questioned his leadership during his four seasons with the Senators.
The news of his re-signing on Tuesday was a welcome boost for a fan base that's taken a couple of haymakers over the past couple of weeks.
At 38, Giroux could serve as a bridge captain while the organization gets another year or two to get a handle on Chabot's intentions, while also evaluating its younger candidates.
Speaking of which...
2. Tim Stützle and 1. Jake Sanderson
If you believe your captain should also be your best player, the shortlist quickly gets trimmed to two names: Tim Stützle and Jake Sanderson.
Both are 24 years old, both were top-five draft picks, and both have become exactly the players the Senators hoped they would be.
Stützle brings elite skill, speed and compete every night. The only concern is that, at times, he lets his emotions knock him off stride, just like Tkachuk did far too often.
Captains need to be steady at the wheel.
Sanderson has all of Stutzle's skill, skating ability and work ethic, but nothing seems to rattle him. Whether the Senators are up or down, Sanderson's demeanour is the same. The only misstep I can even think of was his post-game critique of goalie Leevi Merilainen this season.
Sure, some fans may point to the American factor and whether Sanderson will eventually want to be elsewhere, just like Tkachuk. Or Alex DeBrincat. Or Jack Eichel. Or Dylan Larkin. Or Quinn Hughes.
Admittedly, it's been an interesting little run of Team USA players wanting to move on, but I've never viewed it as anti-Canadian or typical American. It's more about wanting to go to the best situation for them, whether that's to be with family or a situation where they can contend.
With so little loyalty in the game today, there's a great risk that every elite player, regardless of nationality, will use their leverage to get to a better situation as soon as possible, even if they're still under contract.
If the Oilers miss the playoffs, who thinks Canada's Connor McDavid won't be thinking about being somewhere else this time next summer?
The moral of the story is that if you keep your team competitive, you generally won't have to worry about your superstars wanting out.
But if you do buy into the recent American wave of exits, bear in mind that Sanderson spent his teen years in Calgary and both his parents are Canadian. So there's that.
If it were my decision, I'd give the captaincy to Jake Sanderson.
The others would all do an excellent job, particularly Giroux, but Father Time will come for him soon. In hindsight, I probably would have given him a C the day he got here four years ago, but we didn't know then what we know now, and that ship has sailed.
Sanderson already carries himself like a captain. He leads by example, never seems too high or too low, and he's the player Travis Green chucks over the boards for every important situation.
If the Sens are ready to name a captain before opening night, I think the choice is pretty clear.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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