After Dylan Larkin stepped down as the Red Wings’ captain, coach Todd McLellan stated that the Red Wings will begin the 2026-2027 season with three alternate captains wearing “A’s” on their jerseys.
It’s a given that Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond will remain part of the Wings’ leadership group, so the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker suggests that Alex DeBrincat should join Seider and Raymond:
According to head coach Todd McLellan, DeBrincat has helped fill the leadership void left by Patrick Kane’s departure, while also providing a steady presence amid the uncertainty surrounding Larkin’s situation. He is also a candidate to be named an alternate captain.
“He’s done a really good job of providing leadership in the void that’s there right now. It’s not out of character; he hasn’t changed from what he’s done last year,” McLellan said of DeBrincat. “Maybe away from the rink a little bit more with the guys to bring them together, but at the rink, he’s still Cat, and he would certainly be a candidate to be that.”
However, according to McLellan, wearing a letter on his jersey won’t change the way DeBrincat conducts himself in the locker room or on the ice.
“The thing with Cat, though, is we could probably put the whole alphabet across his chest, and he would still be Cat. And if we took every letter of the alphabet away from him, he would still be Cat. He’s not going to change who he is based on that little piece of felt.”
As Whitaker points out, DeBrincat has already been vocal about his desire to serve as a leader on the Red Wings team:
“I take a lot of pride playing with the Red Wings,” DeBrincat said earlier in the month. “Putting on that jersey every night, I think all of us in this room take a lot of pride in that and the history that comes with it.
“There’s so much respect that comes with that crest – it’s a privilege,” he continued. “It’s something I don’t take lightly, and I definitely want to be part of the solution, get back to the glory days, and be a big part of that.”
