Will The Blues Name A Captain? Do They Need One?

ST. LOUIS -- When Brayden Schenn was traded to the New York Islanders on the NHL Trade Deadline of March 6, it marked the end of a three-year run as the captain of the St. Louis Blues.

It meant also that another captain would not last more than five seasons with the Blues, which seems to be the target number because only one captain in team history of 24 (Brian Sutter, 1979-88) is the only one to last beyond five years.

The Blues finished this past season with a committee of leaders, including the ones wearing 'A's, including Robert Thomas, Colton Parayko, Jake Neighbours. But as they head into the 2026-27 season, could this be a season in which the Blues match the 1996-97 Blues when they also didn't have a captain and used a leadership by committee group?

That is one of a plethora of things that need to be looked at in this off-season.

"I don’t think it’s necessary to have a captain if you don’t have a captain," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "And I don’t know if we do or not. That’s going to be a discussion for ‘Army’ and ‘Steener’ with myself. Ultimately, it’s GM’s that drive that decision because that’s a culture decision, it’s a long-term vision decision on who’s going to be the right captain to lead the Blues. But I don’t necessarily think we have to have one next year. Boston hasn’t had one this year. They’re a playoff team and significantly improved. There’s other teams that have done it and they’ve waited. If you think you have the right person, you should name a captain. That’s the way I feel about it, but we do have a relatively young core now. I don’t have the answer for you, but those are my philosophies on captains."

So it begs the question: do the Blues have a captain on their roster now?

There have been those that have stepped into leadership roles, according to Montgomery, but do they have the qualities of being a captain?

"That’s something that I’ll sit with Alex and Jim about," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "I think the league has evolved into more of a leadership by committee, but I’m not dead set on one path yet. And ultimately, I’ll let Alex and Jim make that decision. I’ll give them my input, but I think around the league, you let it evolve around to committees, but again, ultimately, if we’re relying on any one person, we’re probably wrong. We win as a team, we lose as a team and we grow as a team. It’s going to take everybody."

Is Thomas that next guy in line? Does Neighbours have the voice to be the one that also leads by example? Parayko is more of a lead-by-example person. But it certainly sounds like the Blues are open to the idea that there are multiple players that are leaders that can all do it together, and not necessarily someone that has to wear the 'C' per se.

"We did, because after we lost two veteran players (Schenn and Justin Faulk) with each over 1,000 games, there was a big hole and [Philip] Broberg is someone that I thought really emerged as a leader in the sense of how hard he pushed in games and in practice," Montgomery said. "He pushed his teammates to be better. Every time he went against them, they better be ready and that was very obvious with his leadership skills. Thomas took on more of a big picture leadership role, understanding the bench, understanding the dressing room and did an admirable job there. Sixty-three, Neighbours, took on more of a vocal leadership role, understanding when the bench was flat, bringing some energy there. I imagine he did the same thing in the locker room, I’m not there, I’m not close to it. That’s their sanctuary. I only go in there when I feel it’s time to address them. I imagine he did it there too. And I thought 55, Parayko’s leadership was obviously … he started texting me on his own about certain things, scheduling and stuff, and that’s a different form of leadership and much needed, so I saw all four of those guys take steps in my opinion and the last guy I would throw in there was [Jordan] Binnington. Just a high-character individual that you don’t often see goalies be a part of your leadership core, but he is someone that is part of our leadership core because of his unselfishness and his willingness to help the Blues in any capacity."

The Blues can take their time on this, as a decision on whether to go with a captain or not isn't exactly on the more pressing needs. But it will certainly be interesting if they even do it or not, because judging by the comments, they sound comfortable going without one if that's the decision they make.

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