News broke Thursday morning that Predators captain, Mike Fisher, would be retiring after 17 seasons in the NHL. If you haven’t read it yet, check out the letter Fisher wrote in the Tennessean announcing his retirement. It’s really good and exemplifies everything that Preds fans loved about Fisher during his time in Nashville. He was a true leader on and off the ice, doing everything you want in a captain. While Fisher only was captain for one season, his impact on the team will be felt for many years to come.
Now comes the tough part, naming the next captain for the Predators. The good news is there are several candidates to fill the role, which is always a good thing. Fisher made sure to groom the younger players on the team to be ready to step up whenever he decided to hang up his skates. Again, there’s nothing more you could have asked of Fisher as captain. He not only set the example during his career, but made sure the Preds were in great position once he moved on.
To me, there are four serious candidates to captain the Predators next season, which again is a great thing. It shows how strong the Preds locker room is that this many players could potentially wear the “C” next year. I don’t think you could go wrong with any of these choices, personally.
ROMAN JOSI
My money is on Josi to be named next captain. He’s played his entire six year career in Nashville and has served as alternate captain for the last several years. He has the respect of everyone in the locker room and seems like a natural fit to step into the captain’s role. Outside of the locker room, Josi is one of the most recognizable faces and names around the league. Naming Josi captain would also give the Preds something that isn’t seen too much around the league, a European captain.
RYAN ELLIS
The other frontrunner for captain happens to be Josi’s D partner. Ryan Ellis has seen his role grow every year since joining the league. Like Josi, Ellis has spent his entire career in Preds’ gold and embodies everything the Predators are built upon. Ellis seems to just bring a businessman like approach to everything he does. He just goes out there and does his job, and he does it very well. I would argue he’s probably the most well rounded defensemen the Predators have, and that’s saying a ton considering who also mans the blue line in Nashville. Ellis has worn the “A” occasionally throughout his NHL career, mainly filling in when there have been injuries, but there’s no doubting his leadership. Plus, he has the most amazing beard on the Preds and that has to count for something right?
P.K. SUBBAN
Subban joined the Preds last season after a blockbuster trade with the Montreal Canadiens, and immediately became the most marketable player to ever lace them up in Nashville. P.K. brings an undeniable swagger to the Preds. He loves the spotlight and the spotlight loves him. He’s one of the most popular players in the leauge, and even captained the Central Division All-Stars last season. I know that doesn’t mean much, but it does show that his popularity spreads farther than Nashville.
If you get past the flashiness and charisma though, you can see that Subban is a natural born leader. Two instances really stand out to me that demonstrate this and both happened during the Stanley Cup Finals. The first was the guarantee that the Preds would come back to Nashville and win games 3 and 4. A lot of people saw the Preds defenseman as being cocky at that point, but I saw a player stepping up and taking the pressure off his teammates. It’s no lie that the Preds struggled mightily in the first two games of the series.
With Subban throwing out a guarantee, he immediately took all the media attention off his teammates and put it on himself, which we all know he’s very comfortable with. This allowed his teammates to regroup and focus on the next two games without worrying about answering to the media. The second was the Listerine bad breath run in with Crosby. The Preds dominated Game 3 and Subban again took it upon himself to put the spotlight on himself to allow his teammates to do their thing and focus on the next game. A lot of people overlook the impact he had on the Preds, but I know the locker room appreciates Subban.
RYAN JOHANSEN
The last candidate I can see being named captain is Ryan Johansen. Fresh off signing the largest contract given out in Preds history (remember Shea Weber’s contract was actually an offer sheet with the Flyers and Subban’s contract was taken on from the Canadiens in the trade) Johansen is ready to take the next step. Johansen made a long term committment to Nashville and judging by his press conference, believes in everything David Poile is doing.
Johansen really stood out to me in the playoffs last year. He definitely stepped his game up and took on some of the top centers in the league, showing that he deserved to be mentioned in the upper echelon of centers. Unfortunately, Joey’s postseason was cut short with a scary injury, but I thought that’s when he really stepped up and showed some leadership. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Johansen became the Preds #1 cheerleader. He was the hype man before Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, always visible in the locker room before and after games, and even stepped in for the press conference with Mayor Megan Berry announcing Preds Pride Day. You could tell he was willing to help out his team whenever and however he could. That says a lot to me and I’m sure David Poile took that into consideration when negotiating his new contract.
All four of these players would make an excellent captain. I’m betting on Josi getting the “C”, with Ellis a close second, though. The Preds have a such a great group of leadership, that I wouldn’t be surprised to see all of the players at least being alternate captains. I would even venture to say the the “A” will rotate between any combination of these players with Forsberg and Ekholm being thrown in too. Both players probably aren’t quite ready to be considered as a captain, but I think both deserve to be recognized as part of the leadership group with being named an alternate captain occasionally. Pekka will be named an unofficial alternate again, since the NHL has some weird rule about goalies not being allowed to wear a letter.
The Preds will more than likely take their time in deciding, with a decision probably coming in the next couple weeks. Laviolette will talk with the team and get a reading on how they are leaning. I would guess by the time the team reports for training camp, we’ll know who will be the next captain of the Nashville Predators.
Herbie Brooks is the Lead Hockey Analyst for SoBros Network. He knows three things: beating Commies, winning Gold Medals, and having great hair. Follow him on Twitter: @SoBroHerbie_B
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