How Many Assistant Captains On A Hockey Team?

By Usha Shrestha / May 26, 2023 05:02 AM

Connor McDavid and Leon (A)-man, celebrating after making maximum points for the team( Source : twitter )

How many assistant captains on a hockey team? A hockey team should have at least two assistant captains.

Alternate captains are assigned to lead the team when the serving leader fails to join a game. Or, in case he is wounded. An NHL team without a leader is permitted to have a minimum of three alternates.

While the representative can have a "C" on their jersey, an "A" on the uniform denotes alternative leaders. The latter gets to practice leadership in the absence of the serving captain.

In the NHL, 30 out of 32 franchises have at least two alternates, while the Blue Jackets have only one, and the Red Wings have null. Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins, the longest-tenured, has been in the role since 2008.

Although most of the teams have two alternates, a few like the Rangers, the Kraken, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Vancouver Canucks have assigned four players. This team needs to rotate the "A"s by their method of choice.

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How Many Alternate Captains NHL?

There are two to three alternate captains in NHL. Three are exceptional in the case of a team without the C-man.

Some teams have assigned the role to more than two players. In this situation, the team needs to rotate those athletes by their procedure of making choices.

In the National Hockey League franchise, forty-seven alternate representatives out of eighty-two have been in their respective teams for their entire NHL career.

Lobgest-serving A-man with his fellow players on the rink( Source : twitter )

Adam Lowry, Elias Pettersson, Claude Giroux, and Ondrej Palat are some recently assigned players for the position. On the left-hand side, Pittsburgh Penguins still has Evgeni Malkin in the role since the 2008-2009 season.

Following are the 32 teams of the National Hockey League and the numbers of "A"s they have in the 2022-2023 season.

Teams With 2 Alternates

Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
Ottawa Senators
Philadelphia Flyers (one rotating)
Pittsburgh Penguins
St. Louis Blues
Tampa Bay Lightning
Vegas Golden Knights
Washington Capitals

Teams With 3 Alternates

Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Carolina Hurricanes
Edmonton Oilers
Florida Panthers
New York Rangers
San Jose Sharks
Winnipeg Jets

Teams With 4 Alternates

Calgary Flames
Dallas Stars
Seattle Kraken
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks

Columbus Blues Jackets only have Zach Werenski, while the Detroit Red Wings are still rotating.

Who Are The Assistant Captains For The Toronto Maple Leafs?

Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, Jake Muzzin, and Morgan Rielly are the assistant captains for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Right-wing Marner has been the alternate leader since the 2019-2020 season, the same as central player Auston Matthews. Matthews became the first athlete to score three plus-one goals in a debut match in NHL history.

On the other hand, Marner has scored 168 goals within seven seasons with the Maples. Likewise, Jake Muzzin was assigned as the alternative C-man in the 2021-2022 season.

He joined the NHl through the Los Angeles Kings in 2010. The Woodstock native dealt with the Kings as a free agent and won the Silver Cup in 2014.

Five years later, Toronto Maples picked him in the first round via trade with the Kings in January 2019. In the 2022-2023 season, the athlete was on the roster as a left defense.

The Maple players captured after their match in October 2018( Source : twitter )

However, the management ruled him out on February 22 as he remained on the injured reserve list for a long. Muzzin hurt his spine after running into Clayton Keller of the Coyotes earlier in the season.

Morgan Rielly has been in the post for the longest among the four. The Maple chose him as the alternate to the leader in the 2016-2017 season. The team acquired the Canadian player in the NHL 2012 Entry Draft.

Carolina Hurricanes Assistant Captains

Carolina Hurricanes assistant captains are Jaccob Slavin, Jordan Martinook, and Sebastian Aho. Slavin and Martinook got the role in 2020, and Aho in 2021-2022.

Slavin has been with the team for his entire NHL career. The Hurricanes picked him in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Previously, he played for Chicago Steel in the United States Hockey League.

The Colorado native won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2021 and All-Star Game the previous year. For the team, he has scored 43 goals with 192 assists.

Likewise, Jordon entered the league through the Phoenix Coyotes. The franchise picked him in their 2012 NHL Draft. Later, he joined the Canes after six seasons with his former club.

The 30-year-old athlete is not playing for the 2023 season due to his lower body problem. A few years ago, he went through surgery for his core muscle injury.

Last on the checklist is the Finnish athlete Sebastian Aho. Since his enrollment to the Canes in 2015, he has appeared in seven seasons. Aho has tallied 218 goals and 250 assists to date.

Presidents Cup Assistant Captains

Presidents Cup assistant captains focus on making the best record during the NHL regular season. The trophy goes to the team with the most points.

In case, two franchises are tied on points, then one with maximum regulation wins is handed over the medal. The winner gets the home-arena advantage throughout the Silver Cup playoffs.

The Chicago Blackhawks is the recent team to win the trophy and the Cup in the same season. The team made the victory in the 2012-2013 season. Similarly, The Detroit Red Wings have won the trophy six times, the highest among the 32 franchises.

Presidents Cup 2022 Assistant Captains

Presidents Cup 2022 assistant leaders are David Krejci and Brad Marchand. The "A" men belong to the Boston Bruins, the medal-holder of the year.

The Boston Bruins are the winner of the 2022-2023 President's Trophy( Source : twitter )

The Bruins won the prize with 135 points in total. The previous year, the Panthers had the medal with 122 points.

Center player David Krejci was assigned the role, the same season they won the trophy. At the time, Brad has been in the position since 2020-2021. He was picked by the team in the third round of the NHL 2006 Entry Draft.

Likewise, Sternberk-born alternative joined the Bruins in 2006. He was with the team when they won the Stanley Cup in 2011. To date, he has made 231 goals, 555 assists, and 786 points in 16 seasons with the Bruins.

American Captains to Win Stanley Cup

American captains to win Stanley Cup are Derian Hatcher and Dustin Brown.

Brown brought the Los Angeles Kings the Silver Cup in the 2013–2014 season. Since their establishment in 1967, the Kings won their second Cup in the season. They defeated the Rangers in five games in the finals.

Mark Messier Leadership Awards 2014 winner stayed with the team for his entire NHL career. The Kings picked him in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. On April 28, 2022, the former player announced his retirement.

Likewise, an American leader and defenseman, Derian John Hatcher, led the Dallas Stars in the 1998-1999 season. The Stars competed with the Buffalo Sabres in the finals and won their first Silver Cup.

Hatcher joined the team in 1993. However, Minnesota North Stars were the ones who brought him to the NHL in 1990. With the Stars, he collected 71 goals and 223 assists in ten years.

The 6-foot-5-inch tall athlete retired in 2008. Now he owns a team in the Ontario Hockey League. Hatcher remains one of the longest-serving representatives in the Dallas Stars' history.

Non Canadian Captains to Win Stanley Cup

Non Canadian captains to win Stanley Cup has Derian Hatcher . The American defenseman won the championship with the Stars in 1999.

Yet, most captains from Canada have won the Silver Cup in the history of the NHL. For instance, Leafs won the trophy in 1966-1967 with the Canadian leader George Edward Armstrong.

In addition, Bobby Clarke of the Flyers, and Lanny McDonald of the Flames are also on the list.

Following is the checklist of non-Canadian leaders who won the Stanley Cup starting from 1917:

Charlie Gardiner -1934 (BlackHawks)
Johnny Gottselig -1938 (BlackHawks)
Derian Hatcher -1999 (Stars)
Nicklas Lidstrom- 2008(Red Wings)
Zdeno Chara- 2011 (Bruins)
Dustin Brown -2012 and 2014 ( Kings)
Alexander Ovechkin -2018 (Capitals)
Gabriel Landeskog- 2022 (Avalanche)

European Captains To Win the Stanley Cup

European captains to win the Stanley Cup consists of Charlie Gardiner as the first European leader to win the trophy in NHL history.

Gabriel Landeskog, Alexander Ovechkin, Zdeno Chara and Nicklas Lidstorm are also in the checklist.

Swedish left winger and the representative of the Colorado Avalanche, Gabriel, led the team in the Stanley Cup Finals 2022. The current Cup holder marked the victory against two-time back-to-back champion Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.

Alexander went to the Great Wall Of China in August 2019( Source : instagram )

Likewise, Alexander Ovechkin became the European leader to win the Silver Cup in 2018. Ovechkin led the team at the Capital One Arena, where the Washington Capitals won their first Cup. He was assigned as the "C" man in 2010.

Previously, Slovak athlete Zdeno Chara handled the Boston Bruins captaincy in Stanley Cup 2011. It was the first win for the Bruins in their 39 years journey in the NHL.

Similarly, Swedish former defenceman and leader Nicklas Lidstrom brought the fourth Stanley Cup to the Red Wings in 2008. The Detroit competed against the Pittsburg Penguins in the finals.

Lidstrom currently is the vice president of the hockey operation for the team.