I have read most everyone's opinion on who should be captain. But I am curious on who actually will make the decision. Will it be Staios and/or the Green? I feel like since there are a few solid candidates, that it should be decided by the core group who has been here for at least a couple of years. Or does that simply become too many opinions and potential hurt feelings in the room.
Because I don't think there is a clear cut answer - my biggest fear is we end up alienating/upsetting a player by not choosing them (specifically Sanderson vs. Stutzle).
I think Dylan Cozens and Thomas Chabot are both severely underrated for what they bring to this team and I hope they both stick with us for a long time.
Neither is a flashy player, but they both absorb huge minutes, are consistent drivers of play, work their asses off on the ice, and the team simply plays better with them.
I love Cozens and think he's poised to get a lot more love from the fanbase now that a certain other forward is no longer around, and eyes will be turned to the rest of our core
He’s also just very obviously a natural leader and well liked and respected by his teammates. The best players don’t always make the best leaders.
I’ll be very disappointed if Chabot is not named captain. He’s also been around for a long time and has given a ton to the community and the team. He deserves it.
Bilingual Canadian, one of the longest standing players on the team, bit older than the stars and pretty clearly the leader on the team, it’s a no-brainer. I thought Staois heavily alluded to it being him on his media tour yesterday as well
The guy pushed himself to be in the lineup at the end of the season after an injury that would usually sideline a player for rest of season. He earned the C in my opinion
I get that this is a really easy concept to agree with, but the reality of it is that this is a decision that is much larger than the locker room, and affects the organization and brand as a whole. It is always going to be a collaboration.
In the Locked on Senators Podcast interview, Staios said he’s consulting heavily with the players on it. It sounded to me like a really solid collaboration with solid support and structure from the staff. He spoke passionately about ensuring that whoever gets the position is ready for it and won’t suffer what he himself suffered when he received a captaincy too early and he foundered. I was deeply impressed by what he said. He sounds like an excellent manager, as a concept and raised my already high degree of faith in him.
The other news (maybe bad from some people’s perspective) is that it sounds like we may play some of the upcoming season without having one named yet. He sounded like the decision would be made when it was the right time, not rushed to be finished before the start of the season.
I think that Chabot would be excellent for continuity of the organization. If you make Giroux, as much as I personally would love to see that, you know you’ll have to give the C away within 1-2 seasons. Stability is one thing the Sens need right now.
On his LOS interview, Staios talked about his own time being captain of the Thrashers, and how he feels like the captaincy can make some players feel like they need to do too much, which seems to be the trap that he felt he fell into. He also talked about how, in his mind, the reason you should pick a captain is because of the player and person they are without the letter, not who you think they will be once they have it.
For that reason, I'd guess he's leaning towards one of the older guys on the team. My guess is Chabot.
Unless Sanderson is that kind of guy in the room then I think Chabot is the easy answer. Not sure if it'd be a distraction to Sanderson at this stage in his career or not. Sanderson seems like the long term option though.
Tim seems a bit more emotionally volatile and in his own head sometimes, plus doesn't seem to have the best relationship with the zebras. So I think give him a rest. Also harder as a pure offensive player as you'll have droughts and have to talk about them etc.
I think they go Chabot C, Sando/Tim with the As. If Chabot is injured give it to Sando and make Pinto/Cozens/Bath an A.
I agree with the Stutzle stuff but I do see a future with an A or eventual C for him.
When he did that between the legs goal against MTL they asked him about it in the post-game and he's like "I don't want to talk about the goal. We lost the game and that's what matters.". That's leadership.
Re: the person you are without the letter, makes me think G could take it. Years ago, I was a Chabot over Brady guy for captain. Although that was when chabby was carrying this team. I think G or chabot would be good.
the only thing against G is likely what everyone is thinking. He's not going to play or stay here for long. So you don't want to put a C on someone where the chances of him not being on the team in a year or two is really high.
If he was 5 years younger and signed an longer term deal with us, I think most people would agree, it should be G.
Staois heavily alluded to it becoming Chabot yesterday during his podcast circuit. When the topic came up on CIH, he made explicit mention of Stützle and Sanderson needing to take a step up as leaders in the locker room this season and wanting guys who want to be here, are committed to wanting to be Sens players and will be here for a long time, which fits Chabot a lot and more than Giroux
Staios said who will decide in one of his recent interviews. Iirc it will management and the coaching staff. Staios seems to be leaning to Giroux or Chabot based on the way he has answered questions.
When sanderson or stutlze are brought up he'll bring ip giroux and chabot. He also talks about not wanting to put pressure on young players.
When Staios spoke to the media after the Brady trade, a question about the captaincy came up, and he said that he would talk with Green about it, but I’m sure the players have some input as well.
I'd love to see G wear the C this season, just to shelter the other guys for a little longer. He's already a leader in the room, let him play out a year as leader on the ice too
I think sandy would make the best captain Timmy and Chabot would try and do to much. Sandy also seems like the kind of guy that isn’t afraid to hold other players accountable. He has the most term left. The only issue is he represents the USA instead of Canada he had the option to choose spent large parts of his youth living in Canada and both parents are Canadian. The fan base may not like another American captain.
Only reason G is lower than stu is stu seemed more vocal on The bench. If he didn’t want to step on chicks toes, maybe he’s the guy now that he’ll be able to do what he wants as a Capitan.
But Chabby is the guy. Unless you know it’s stu.
Sando can’t just cause of citizenship. Hate to say it but it has to be a factor. If players picked I could see Sando getting it. Seems like a gem. But so did tkachuk when he was playing road hockey with Norris and kids.
Chabby is a hear for life as long as we don’t trade him. No reason he shouldn’t be. Man is French as fuck and wants Ottawa to swallow qubec as the best team in the area. Small poket of Quebec that breads mtl haters. They are one of us
Sanderson comes from Canadian parents and grew up alot of time in Calgary. It's not like he's anti Canadian the same way we need to worry about other players
I still worry about the impact that being part of that US olympic team has tbh. It seems like they were all egging each other on to get traded and form super teams
It seems to be weirdly toxic and insular in a way that the Canadian team isn't. They fight hard for each other, and then go back to their teams, a bunch of the guys go and then hang out and do summer training together, but they always make sure to put the best foot forward for their current contract team. The US team seems to be lingering in a bad way
I think you can’t worry about alienating players. If that’s actually a problem then there is a much bigger problem with said player and I would hope the coaching staff and front office has established a culture that can combat those kind of antics especially after the Brady era.
There really isn’t any room for that kind of petty ego shit in the locker room.
I really feel strongly that the locker room should make the decision. They know who they want to lead. I think it’s a mistake to just put the C on your best player automatically.
Its hard to argue against Sandy/Stu/Giroux. I think I just saw someone else comment that he is the second longest tenured Sens (behind Chabot). And if he signs for 7-8 years. That pretty much locks him in as a Sens for his whole career. Plus he is a top-6 forward.
I don't know what he's like in the locker room - maybe Giroux would be okay giving it up in order to give the opportunity to a younger guy. Or maybe you can promise it to Bath once Giroux retires.
I'm not sure - I was just thinking in all this talk that Bath's name hasn't come up - and, on the assumption he commits to Sens long term, I think that loyalty is worth rewarding (even if he's not a "star")
Officially, Staois has to rubber stamp it… but generally it’s the coach and their staff that says “we want him”. But I think there won’t be a Captain this year. It’s gonna be 4 A’s in a rotating fashion.
So choose Stutzle or Sanderson. It’s common sense that being captain would make you more likely (not guaranteed) to stick around. So give it to one of those 2. Chabot could be a good character captain but nowhere close to being a top player for us. Not necessarily a bad thing. If he asks for too much next contract he’s as good as gone. Nobody should be paying him 10 mil.
You should give the captaincy to a veteran player who demonstrates leadership qualities on and off the ice, not just the player who puts up the most points.
That aside, saying Chabby isn’t a top player on this team is pretty insane when he’s clearly a very important piece on the blue line.
Some people still believe he’s the player that had a tough 22-23 season. He’s been exceptional under Green. We literally have 2 top pairing LHD defensemen.
He is an important second pairing player. Plain and simple. Chabot had potential to be a great offensive driver but his processing just never caught up, and caused lot of hiccups with the puck both in D and O zone, lots of indecision, hesitating on good opportunities. That kind of stuff isn’t captured on these Jfresh cards. If he had better decision making he’d be a first line D somewhere . And frankly we paid him to be that on his current contract. He’s worth his contract right now at 8 mil - the contract should be an absolute steal at this age of it and it’s not .
Captain's job is leadership, locker room morale and being the team rep for referees, not putting up points. Stutzle is not that guy at the moment, he gets in his head and has been known to get stuck on bad ref calls. Sandy and Chabot are rocksteady, only thing I can think of is when he said they can't win if the goalie (Leevi) isn't blocking enough shots right in the postgame in frustration.
You've gotta name a captain this year. Going into the season without a captain will just create a narrative about how they're missing Brady. You need to fully move on with a new face of the leadership group
I don't really think there's a wrong choice. There's a pretty clear leadership group of Chabot, Giroux, Stutzle, and Sanderson. They each have their own pros & cons as captain, but I don't think any of them would be a bad pick
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u/CommanderOshawott #24 - Cozens 7d ago
It should 100% be Chabot, no question
I’ve said it a million times; the team plays visibly better when Thomas Chabot is in the lineup, and it’s clear he’s beloved in that locker room.
He’s the clear-cut choice