The Anaheim Ducks made a leadership call on Tuesday that says plenty about where the organization thinks it is right now.
Mikael Granlund, 34, is the new captain, becoming the 10th player to wear the “C” in franchise history. Anaheim went with the veteran center over a younger option such as Leo Carlsson, a choice made in the middle of a summer that already got sideways on general manager Pat Verbeek.
That summer had plenty of moving parts. Verbeek’s plans were disrupted when the Philadelphia Flyers signed Carlsson to an offer sheet with an $18 million salary cap hit. The ripple effect hit the Ducks’ cap sheet, cost them veteran winger Chris Kreider, and left Verbeek working for months to get a deal done with star winger Cutter Gauthier.
So when the Ducks handed the captaincy to Granlund just before a season with major long-term implications, it wasn’t just a ceremonial move. It was a signal that Anaheim wanted experience in the room while its young core keeps sorting itself out.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton both leaned toward the Ducks making the right call.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The Anaheim Ducks naming 34-year-old Mikael Granlund their new captain; Granlund being the captain of the Ducks is [BLANK], Hutts?
Carter Hutton: Smart. I love this one.
I think it’s smart. They’re in a weird transition period in contracts, right?
They have a bunch of young guys that just got big deals. Leo Carlsson signing the offer sheet, I don’t think that screams something great from your leader initially into this.
Give him some year, let the dust settle, let him play into that. Cutter Gauthier pretty much holding you hostage.
He had the gun to the teller’s head… And then Jackson LaCombe is still a little bit young. I think Granlund, with two years left on his deal, this is okay.
You can transition to somebody else if he doesn’t re-sign. It’s a smart play, in my opinion.
Yaremchuk agreed, and pointed to the contract situation and the uncertainty around a younger captaincy candidate like Jackson LaCombe.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I’m with you. There were a lot of people who were like, ‘Why isn’t this Jackson LaCombe?’
I mean, Granlund has two years left on his contract. This can be a bridge thing.
Jackson LaCombe, I mean he’s played three years in the NHL, but we’re not in that room. We don’t know if he is a vocal leader, if he would be a good captain.
You wait two more years, you give it to Granlund in the mean time. Granlund’s been in that room for the last number of seasons.
It’s not like he’s a new player that they just signed that they’re just slapping the ‘C’ right on.
Granlund’s appointment, then, looks less like a surprise and more like a practical answer to a team in the middle of a messy transition.
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