The Devils Captain

Zach definitely deserves to be named Captain and should be.
However, the question to be asked should rather be, WHEN should he be given it? There are pretty much just two ways this can be done, they are as follows:

1. We give Zach the Captaincy before the season starts. This avoids starting off DeBoer’s tenure as coach without a captain, and would make it seem that we truly have stability. We seem to know that Zach will sign an extension with the team as soon as possible. Again, from everything that we have seen leading up to the one year deal, it looks like this deal is just to gauge how Zach responds as he comes back to full health. Not a sign that they couldn’t reach a deal mutually. If Lou wanted to sign him to a long term deal during the off season, he would have, it’s Lou we’re talking about here. Both sides wanted a long term contract, and there will be one. By giving Zach the “C” now, we guarantee that there will be a long term contract with him and that he will be the Captain for a long time to come.

2. Zach is given the Captaincy when he signs the long term contract extension. Meanwhile, we have three Alternate Captains. This is what most people probably prefer. This way we ensure that we won’t have an one season captain. We know that Zach will sign the extension, but until it’s official, we wait. This would also work well because this way, it would seem like we are donning a New Captain as he commits long term to the team. It gives us all a good feeling and signifies a new era of New Jersey Hockey.

Personally, I feel that Option No. 2 is the way to go. However, Option No. 1 is also a very viable option and would give us a Captain now, and thus give us stability now. Plus, DeBoer has said that he will name a Captain before the season begins. That points to Parise being named captain now.
 
Your thoughts?

Sestito!

Anyone deserve the captaincy yet besides Elias aka Cup winner, but the guy doesn’t want it anymore, so trade him !!!

Joke apart, 3 assistants until someone shows up as a damn true leader… During our next playoffs journey for sure, nothing else matters.

if you are voting “Other” let us know who you have in mind. I assume Alamoth and Elektrokid want the AAA. I also chose to ignore Zelepukin’s contribution of Sestito.

OK the thing i don’t understand is why everyone is pushing Parise as the captain so hard. It is a privilege to lace up the skates for this franchise and the fact they couldn’t work out an agreement on a long term deal this past summer shows Zach wanted more money then Lou was offering and that’s fine this is a business but i hate the idea of just giving him the C because hes the best player on the team us fans cant see leadership in the locker room sure the guy plays the game the right way by giving 100% on every shift but who knows how he is behind closed doors. Something just seems fishy about this hole Parise situation and has all summer hopefully im dead wrong and come January 1st his contract extension is announced but i dont think he should be named captain or at least not yet.
Other players that deserve some consideration are clearly Ilya Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac (names are in the poll) but i also think there may be some dark horse canidates as well such as Anton Volcenkov Andy Greene or Henrik Tallinder.
Anyway i think for now it should be left open and see how the team plays and who STEPS UP and leads the team and if Zach isn’t resigned by midseason I’d say give it to Kovy or whoever is deserving and ship Parise out via trade and get some value for him i could not stomach watching him walk i would prolly have a stroke and go into a coma. On the flip if he re-signs and leads the team then obviously hes the man its to early too tell.

I cannot recall the exact medium, but Coach DeBoer let it be known there would be a Captain in place for the Season Opener. Im pretty sure it was Gulitti.

Then he’s the choice. If they need to name another captain next year because he leaves (shudders), so be it. Year-to-year captaincy changes are going to have a significantly lesser impact than the annual coaching change game.

henrik tallinder. he mentors the younger d-men, he plays the most minutes, and i guess just because of scott stevens im more used to a d-man wearing the c on this team. if he was healthy id go with zajac also. if deboer is really naming one in the next week itll probably be kovy or zach. zubrus would be a sleeper pick, but he is only here for 2 more seasons.

this is a shot in the dark but how about Sykora for captain? He is a veteran and has succeeded as a Devil. Not to mention you cant argue with his work ethic considering all he’s done coming to camp on a tryout basis. I know he would probably be on the team for just a year, but if Parise is more mature and becomes a strong leader he can get captaincy when he re-signs next season.

If you are looking for a real dark horse in this it’s gotta be Salvador or even Andy Greene (been on the team since 2006). I still think Parise is the front runner. He may not be vocal (who knows how he is in the locker room) but his work ethic alone should give the rest of the players something to strive for. He’s been on the team since 2005 – 3rd longest out of anyone (Elias and Marty are pre-2000). I’m not saying length on the Devils team should be a big factor, but just something to consider.

With hindsight I think Kovalchuk shouldn’t get the “C” on no account . It’s not about a lack of leadership, it’s about putting even more pressure on his shoulders that he already gets (due to the Kovy-gate and his lack of points production last year etc, etc.)

He needs to have a strong season firstly and the thing is not done yet. I’m for a 3 “A” but it seems that DeBoer will choose someone, so I wouldn’t mind giving the captaincy to Parise, but no way to Kovalchuk