Predators Captaincy

For those that don't know, HockeyBuzz (Eklund's place) has a new blogger for the Predators. Paul McCann will still be blogging (thank God) but he is moving to a more general role. The new guy is, well, new. He's very young and writes like it. But he is enthusiastic and hopefully will grow in to the role soon.

His first post was about the captaincy of the Predators. Who should or shouldn't take the reigns since Captain Kimmo and Kariya (who was an alternate on occasion) left.

He puts up Sullivan (C), Arnott (A), and Weber Dumont (A) as nominations. With Weber, Suter, and Radulov as possibilities. Here was my response:

First it has to be said that i hate that Mason can't wear an 'A' at least... He hasn't played as much but he has been and is going to be the emotional core of this team.

Anyway, Sully gets the 'C' in a perfect world, but my concern there is health. A captain in a luxury suite nursing his back isn't much of a captain. If i'm Trotz, i think about giving him an 'A' again and letting him lead when he's there. If his back is proven strong enough in camp, then perhaps give him the 'C', but Trotz already said he wants leadership named before camp even starts. His back is just so iffy at this point...

If not Sully, then Arnott. Of course if he's not 'C' then 'A'. That's a given.

As for the other alternate, Weber could be good, though i'm not sure if he or Suter are there yet. They'll have enough filling Kimmo skates on the ice. I want them to concentrate on their play. Ice time is going way up for those two (was already high). They wouldn't be bad choices...just not sure.

No way Radulov gets anywhere near leadership. He'll be a scorer, but he has a lot of maturing to do. He was something of a goof-ball last season. Not that i minded, but he isn't a leader. Not to mention there is a decent amount of language barrier still there, if interviews last year were any indication. Great player. I'd pick him to lead the team in goals and probably scoring, but no way he's leadership.

I would think about players like Zanon and Fiddler personally. They aren't going to be on any all-star teams, but that isn't the point of a captain. They are veterans, respected, responsible, reliable on and off the ice... Those are the characteristics i look for in leadership. Many teams have strong leading captains who aren't on-ice producers. I think they could be similar to a Greg Johnson, etc. Suter and/or Weber could be the same, but i just don't see players that young in leadership on a team that actually got older (on average) during the off-season, not younger.