MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses Henrik Zetterberg’s status over the course of a mailbag feature this morning:
Q: If Zetterberg is done, will they name a new captain right away or go with three alternates for a while? Assuming (Dylan) Larkin is the next captain, is he ready for the role? Also, with (Niklas) Kronwall likely gone after this season, who gets the other ‘A’ along with (Justin) Abdelkader? – Bob
A: I’m sure they’ll go with three alternates for at least this season, maybe for the following two seasons as well.
If Zetterberg can’t play, I doubt he’ll officially retire because the club would be hit with a cap recapture penalty of roughly $4.3 million in each of the next three seasons. He’ll go on LTIR for the duration of his contract (three seasons).
The Red Wings might not name another captain until Zetterberg retires. That time would allow Larkin to grow more into a leadership role before being given the ‘C.’ But three years is a long time to go without anyone wearing the ‘C,’ so maybe they make that move at the start of the 2019-20 season.
Who gets Kronwall’s ‘A’ in 2019-20? Frans Nielsen would be my guess. Danny DeKeyser is another possibility. I’m sure they’d like Anthony Mantha to grow into that leadership role, but they might think next season is too soon for him.
Ha Ha Ha. Watch them give the C to Razzy…..JK’ding.
If Kahn is wrong and Z retires, Z’s cap hit as a retiree will be less than his cap hit as a player. Still, there is no reason Z shouldn’t be LTIR, I’m just not sure him playing for $3.5 and $1.0 million will be enough for him to justify the risk to his back.
I’m with many on the subject of the next C. Larkin should be that guy. He’s displayed leadership qualities all last season, he says the right things, is complimentary to his teammates, works hard and knows when and how to adjust his game to be more effective….all qualities we saw in Stevie, Lids and Z. His only problem would be will the older guys want to take direction from a “kid”? It sure doesn’t seem like the Wings have any guys on the roster who would feel slighted if a guy 10 years younger then them are calling the shots……is that intentional by KH?