The Next Captain
August 7th, 2008 by Steve
In today’s Toronto Sun, there was a headline suggesting Pavel Kubina might be the next captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Personally I think this is just an attempt on the tabloid’s part to sell more print. Yes Cliff Fletcher was quoted as saying the following in regards to Kubina,
“He could be a serious candidate to be our captain,”
But does that really mean he’s likely to fill the void? I’m not so sure.
Many other media outlets, particularly the Fan 590 and Sportsnet, have piggybacked on the story in an effort to generate some revenue of their own (all things blue and white attract advertising in these parts). David Bastl threw his own (not so logical) idea in the ring of bringing in Brendan Shanahan to captain the Leafs. Yes Shanny has experience, and yes he’s helped lead teams to the Stanley Cup, but he’s also obviously in decline.
In his first year in Detroit, 1996-96 (over 10 years ago now) he posted his fourth 40+ goal season in 5 years and registered 87 points, the 2nd highest total of his career. He actually had two 50 goal seasons in a row with St. Louis between 1992 and 1994. But during his time with the Red Wings, he was far from the team’s only option offensively and his production stepped down a tad. He was in Detroit for 9 seasons, over a span of 10 years. Despite starting with a bang, he only averaged 70 points during those 9 seasons. He ended up bookending his Detroit career nicely with a 40 goal, 81 point season, following the break he had courtesy of the lockout season.
Once he moved on to NYC to play with the Rangers, he helped Jagr and the rest of the aging, Broadway blue shirts push on into the playoffs, scoring 29 goals and 62 points in 67 games. Last year his decline continued though, with only 23 goals and 46 points in 73 games. Expecting 45 points and 70 games out of him next year would be asking a fair bit of the 39 year old power forward.
Kubina might not be the answer either. Yes last season he registered a career year points wise with 40. He also took a lot of stupid penalties, ending up with 116 PIMs in 72 games. He blocks more shots than most, he takes the body, and he puts up points. He is a solid producer all around, but is he a team leader? I’m not so sure.
Tomas Kaberle is the other obvious option. Now the longest serving Maple Leaf, Kaberle has been with the club his entire 9 year career. He plays an amazingly clean game, having never registered more than 46 PIMs in a season. He actually averages 22 penalty minutes a season though, which is exactly how many he received last year. He also is a model of consistency offensively, having scored 50+ points for the past 3 seasons straight, and never registering less than the 22 points he scored in his rookie season.
Personally I think Kaberle is the best choice. He is the longest serving Maple Leaf, He is the lone remaining member of the old leadership of the squad. He captained the Czech republic this past World Championship, and then went out and led the team in scoring. He is actually relatively under-rated defensively, and is easily one of the top 10 all-around defenders in the NHL. He plays big minutes, he puts up big points, and he leads by example. I don’t think it’s far off to say that putting him in the Captain’s chair following the departure of Mats Sundin wouldn’t be much different from the Red Wings putting Lidstrom in following the retirement of Steve Yzerman.
Before you all shoot off about how the Leafs situation is distinct from that of the Red Wings in that they were a winning program, and Lidstrom is a different type of player what with his Norris Trophies, and Stanley Cups, and All-Time All-Star status - I can’t disagree with those points. That being said, If we’re trying to emulate a club, wouldn’t THEY be a decent club to emulate? I’m not sure it would work out, and maybe what the Leafs should do would be to rotate captains as is being suggested in some corners.
I honestly don’t care who the captain is as long as they keep attempting to improve their young talent base, and change the general feeling of the team. As long as they’re taking steps forward, I’m ok with whatever they decide to do. Right now I’m still under the impression they’re moving. They’re still trying to figure out what the direction their heading in is, but we won’t know if it’s the right one or the wrong one for a while yet.
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6 Responses to “The Next Captain”
By David Johnson
on Aug 7, 2008
You have to love the Toronto media. First they question Fletcher for bringing in 33 year old Jamal Mayers since he is old and will take a roster spot from a younger Leaf and then they go and suggest they sign Shanahan to be the leader of the team for a year, maybe two at best. At least Kubina has a chance of being with the team 4-5 years from now.
Personally, I think Kubina would be a good choice so long as the Leafs are willing to commit to him for at least the next 2 years and potentially beyond. He has the experience and is a solid cent all round player who can play big minutes in all situations. He also has the respect of the coach which I think is important for a captain.
Kaberle I am not so sure about. He just seems too quiet and passive to be a captain. At least the kind of captain the Leafs need now. They need someone who can help the young players develop and lead them and I am not sure Kaberle is that guy.
By Dan
on Aug 7, 2008
Easy answer to this is to give it to Kaberle. This guy’s making decent money and you always have to have that as part of your thinking. I’m not say no one on the team should make more the Kaberle, but there has to be some sort of hierarchy to the organization. Detroit tends to do that, NJ does this as well. Looks like Pittsburg didn’t budge on Crosby’s numbers as well. So it helps to keep the contracts down a little when you say, here is our best player, why do you think you should be paid more than him…?
By Doug
on Aug 8, 2008
Personally, I agree with Kaberle as Captain. Kubina is an excellent defenceman that any team in the league would love to have on their roster. The Leafs are rebuilding. Kubina may serve that process better by trading him for a solid component for the future, for example a young talent like Jorden Stall. Pittsberg is loaded at centre and could use a talent improvement on defence.
By LEAFSrOK
on Aug 12, 2008
LEAFS JUST SUCK MAN, I used to love them, but come on, every year we say the same thing(LEAFS ARE Going TO THE PLAYOFFS) but in the end we just end up even worse than the previous year, and now this year we’ve lost about 10 players and were more confident then ever. That’s why I changed my favorite team to another canadian team the MONTREAL CANADIENS. The Senators come after that. I just love my country and the Leafs are a complete embarrassement!!!
By LEAFSrOK
on Aug 12, 2008
You know what I think, the next captain is going to be another old bastard who joins the team? Who is going to be, Mario Lemieux?
Come on leafs, we have a good past but the future leafs SUCK.