Chris Bushell
At the ripe old age of 30 I am just barely older than the Ducks franchise itself. And while I remember Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, and Scott Nidermayer Ryan Getzlaf has always been “my captain”. Getzlaf was a player I looked up to and truthfully one of favorite players. It will be very odd to watch and see Ducks games without #15 on the ice. However, the winds of change have been swirling in Anaheim for months now and that vacant captaincy is just the next domino. The Ducks will truly usher in the next wave next season and selecting the proper captain will be one of the top decisions that need to be made. It is truly a difficult decision and one that cannot be taken lightly.
As most of my colleagues here have echoed to go the veteran route and select the likes of Cam Fowler or Adam Henrique, I am choosing to go with the youth movement. With any decision in life, I believe there should be no half measures. If the Ducks truly are ushering in the next wave, (and they will be as Getzlaf marks the final piece of the Ducks 2007 Stanley Cup Champion team) then they need to fully commit. And the next captain of your Anaheim Ducks should be Trevor Zegras. Now I recognize this is the first full pro season for Zegras and he has a lot to learn but he is showing a lot of those qualities now. The Ducks have been out of the playoffs for a bit now. And yet Zegras continues to bring it night in and night out. The hope being the Ducks are contenders again soon, but it is good to see such a young player not just phoning it in in the late stages of the season. He also has the leadership off the ice as evidence by his comments following the Jay Beagle-Troy Terry incident in Arizona just a few nights ago.
Like great leaders at young ages through history Zegras would also have veterans around him that can help guide and mold his captaincy. Placing the A on Henrique and Fowler or even Jakob Silfverberg could guide Zegras through the rough patches. I believe giving Zegras the C now allows this team to have their next 10+ year captain and the one that guides them back to the Stanley Cup.