3 Wild Card Candidates for the San Jose Sharks Captaincy
The San Jose Sharks lost their former captain to free agency, luckily the team is full of potential replacements capable of taking on the role.
After 4 seasons as captain of the San Jose Sharks Joe Pavelski left the Bay in search of other opportunities, eventually landing in Dallas Texas with the Stars. Now Team Teal is left with deciding who is going to fill in the void he left on and off the ice.
Luckily the Sharks have plenty of quality professionals who are more than capable of taking the reigns of captaincy along with the expected media pressure that comes along with it.
Not long after the news of Pavelski’s departure everyone naturally turned their attention to Logan Couture. Entering his 11th season dawning a teal sweater the 30-year-old has shown the ability to shine in crucial moments and take the heat when the team is experiencing darker times.
San Jose’s 9th overall selection in the 2007 NHL Draft is natural fit for the leadership and would be a perfect choice when the time comes around to choosing the captain of the 2019 – 2020 Sharks.
Nonetheless, this roster is full of world class individuals capable of contributing more and would make excellent faces of the Sharks franchise.
Erik Karlsson
The Sharks signed Erik Karlsson to a max contract this off-season officially making it his home for the next stage of his hockey career. San Jose invested a significant amount of their salary cap, time, and prospect pool to acquire and retain the all world blueliner.
With that much committed to a skater and not to mention the on and off ice impart EK65 brings to the Sharks. It’s not all that far-fetched to suggest that Karlsson would look good dawning the “C” crest on his sweater next season.
Karlsson is no stranger to the responsibilities of captain of an NHL team. In four of his 9 seasons in Ottawa the 29-year-old as the team’s leader. EK65 constantly dealt with the pressures that a Canadian market can provide, while also performing at a game-breaking pace on the ice.
The freshly maxed out Shark is relatively new to the Bay Area and isn’t quite as in tune with the history of the franchise as some of the others in the locker room might be. However this could be a good thing for a team looking to spark some new life into their Stanley Cup contention status. And awarding the captaincy to a world-class talent like EK65 would definitely signal that.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Pickles will be entering his 14th year with the San Jose Sharks after being drafted by the organization in 2005 as a 2nd round pick. As the longest tenured home-grown member of Team Teal Marc-Edouard Vlasic has been integral to this strong run of consistent playoff contention put together General Manager Doug Wilson and his staff.
Throughout his nearly decade and a half career with the Sharks, MEV has been consistently leaned upon on the ice for his elite defensive abilities. Effectively neutralizing the opposing teams best options on offense and playing huge minutes on special teams.
There are plenty of arguments for Vlasic’s candidacy for captaincy although he has been known to get a bit short with the media and at times too critical of the Sharks play.
This isn’t to say that the 32-year-old blueliner can’t adjust his tune a bit when it comes to added pressure of being captain. We’ve seen Pickles come up huge for San Jose plenty of times in years past and this situation could be no different.
Tomas Hertl
Tomas Hertl is an enthusiastic young forward with a perpetual grin on his face when he finds himself in the middle of a media scrum. At the same time the Czech forward is a highly competitive force on the ice with silky hands and superb vision to find teammates and open areas of play.
The 25-year-old is entering 7th year (time flies) lacing up his skates for Team Teal. We’ve seen Hertl blossom from a dynamic power forward into a 200 foot center who’s high-end scoring ability makes him a constant threat when he is on the ice.
While Hertl has garnered attention on the ice he has also attracted a lot of attention in around the NHL media-sphere for his highlight reel goals and infectiously positive personality. During interviews Tomas constantly has something profound to say, staying away from hockey cliches by making keen observations that you can only track if you were at ice level.
Now unlike the other contenders on this list, Tomas Hertl doesn’t have a decade’s worth of experience in the league. In spite of this the 17th pick in the 2012 draft has been a pivotal part of the Sharks over the past half decade. To go along with this argument he also embodies the new wave of skaters that San Jose feels can keep them relevant as a franchise for years to come.
Trending. 3 Breakout Candidates on the San Jose Sharks. light
In retrospect this entire process is likely all for nothing taking into account the C is all but sewn on the sweater of Logan Couture. Still it’s an encouraging sign when you take stock like this and see not just one but multiple people who have the values and personality it takes to represent the San Jose Sharks franchise in 2019 – 2020 and beyond.