SAN JOSE – One of the bigger questions the San Jose Sharks had coming into this year’s training camp – one they haven’t faced in a while – was whether they would name a captain before the start of the regular season.
That discussion is ongoing, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said this week, with a final decision coming – one way or the other — more toward the end of camp early next month.
“I think we have a lot of leaders in that room, whether they wear a letter or not,” Warsofsky said, echoing one of the team’s more familiar refrains. “I expect guys to lead, the guys have been around a long time in that room, and we have some younger guys coming that are going to be good leaders as well.
“I don’t think leadership is going to be an issue.”
At least one Sharks player, though, feels the Sharks will have someone wearing the ‘C’ this season as the team looks to take a significant step forward after two years at the bottom of the NHL standings. The Sharks play their final preseason game on Oct. 4 In Utah and open the regular season at home on Oct. 9 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
“I think when the time is here, we’re going to have a captain,” forward Carl Grundstrom said Thursday when asked if the Sharks need a captain. “Hard to say, but we’ll see. Probably there will probably be a captain here pretty soon, I would guess.”
Logan Couture served as the Sharks captain for six seasons before he announced in April that he was ending his playing career due to a debilitating groin/pelvic area injury called osteitis pubis.
Before Couture’s era, Joe Pavelski wore the ‘C’ for four years, a time in which the Sharks advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and the Western Conference Final in 2019.
Pavelski’s captaincy brought some stability to the Sharks after a tumultuous 2014-15 season in which the Sharks did not have anyone in that role.
Joe Thornton wore the ‘C’ from the start of the 2010-11 season to 2013-14 before he was stripped of the captaincy by then general manager Doug Wilson. The Sharks had missed the playoffs that year, and shortly after the season, the team and then-coach Todd McLellan agreed to part ways.
The rebuilding Sharks are in a different position now than they were 10 years ago when they were annual playoff contenders. They’re also not taking the captaincy away from anybody, so it wouldn’t necessarily be a storyline if they didn’t have anyone in that role this year.
Wennberg became an alternate captain last season after Mikael Graniund and Luke Kunin, who were given letters to start the year, were both traded. Defenseman Mario Ferraro wore an ‘A’ throughout the year, and Barclay Goodrow and Tyler Toffoli were also part of that leadership group.
“We have a bunch of guys that have the qualities to be a leader,” Wennberg said. “So, if you wear an ‘A,’ if you wear a ‘C,’ if you don’t wear anything, everyone can do their part. We’ll see if it happens or not, but I’m not too worried about this group.”
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Sharks general manager Mike Grier said last week that the decision to name a captain is not, “something I want to rush or push. We want to make sure, when we make that decision, to hand off the captaincy to someone else, that it’s something we’re 100% behind, and it’s hopefully something that lasts a long time.”
Toffoli, 33, might be a natural fit to wear the ‘C’ right now. He’s signed through 2027-28, is entering his 14th NHL season, scored 30 goals last year, is a Stanley Cup champion and has already exhibited leadership traits with the way he’s mentored Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. He also had Michael Misa living at his house before the start of camp.
“If something like that were to happen, then obviously it’d be an incredible honor,” Toffoli said last week when asked about the captaincy. “But at the same time with the guys that came in to, there’s a lot of guys that are capable of doing that, and I think we have a general group of captains within our organization and our team in the locker room that all step up.”