The New York Rangers are one of a few teams around the NHL to find themselves captain-less this offseason. They were also the only team to be captain-less during the season after they traded former captain Ryan Callahan to Tampa Bay for Martin St. Louis (the Lightning made the clear choice to give Steven Stamkos the C while the Rangers went with three A’s after the trade.) The search is on for a new captain of Broadway so let’s run down the top three options.
Next New York Rangers Captain
Derek Stepan (odds: 7/1):
Stepan exploded onto the scene, scoring a hat trick in his first game as a Ranger, and has been a steady performer on the ice and a strong leader off. He’s the first line center, a strong penalty killer, and an expert back checker. His influence as a young leader would be very valuable. The biggest issue is Stepan only has one more year left on his deal and, while he still remains an RFA after this season, it would be strange to give the captaincy to a player without a long term deal. Stepan is a great player with a big future ahead of him, it just doesn’t seem like his time. Look for him to wear recently departed Brad Richards’ former A this season.
Henrik Lundqvist (odds: 5/1):
Lundqvist is both the most important and best player on the Rangers and even that seems like an understatement. Future Hall of Famer, and will go down as arguably one of the best goalies in NHL history and most definitely the best goalie of his era. He’s well spoken, easily the most identifiable Ranger, and has signed an eight year contract extension, so he will be in New York for the rest of his career. Goalies however, are not traditionally captains. Roberto Luongo was captain in Vancouver for two seasons but, due to a rule created in the 1940’s, any goalie named captain is not able to perform the on-ice captain’s duties such as speaking to officials. He would be the favorite if naming a goalie captain wasn’t even more for show than the captaincy already is.
Ryan McDonagh (odds: 2/1):
McMonster, Mac Truck, and soon, Captain Mac. Mcdonagh is on his way to becoming one of the best defenseman in the NHL and he took the opportunity to use this years Stanley Cup Playoffs as a coming out party. He recently signed a six year $28.2 million deal, for which he’s already proving he’s being wildly underpaid. McDonagh’s bid for the captaincy became a lock once the playoff series against Montreal came to a close. His 10 points were pivotal to the Rangers advancing through to the Stanley Cup Final. Mac never gives up on plays and he’s close to being hockeys Lebron James (sprinting down the ice to dive and ruin your walk-in breakaway). He leads by example and has proven to everyone in the Rangers organization that this is his team going forward.
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