The Blackhawks’ leadership team of four alternate captains will be comprised of Seth Jones, Connor Murphy, Nick Foligno and Corey Perry, the team announced Wednesday.
Before training camp began last week, general manager Kyle Davidson had said the Hawks wouldn’t name one primary captain for this season, partially out of respect for Jonathan Toews — the team’s captain for the last 15 years — and partially to give time for new leaders to emerge within the locker room.
Jones, the team’s highest-profile veteran player, and Murphy, the team’s longest-tenured remaining player (by far), were locks to be chosen.
Both were alternate captains last season, have big voices in the locker room, maintain strong relationships with their teammates, provide — especially in Murphy’s case — extensive institutional knowledge and usually answer the toughest questions after the team’s ugliest losses.
It’s more interesting, though, that Foligno and Perry — the two ultra-experienced veteran forwards Davidson brought in this summer to make up for Toews and Patrick Kane’s departures — beat out returning veterans like Tyler Johnson and Jarred Tinordi to receive the other “A” letters.
But that’s no slight on Foligno or Perry, both of whom have played over 1,000 NHL games and bring countless experience from different places. Foligno, in particular, has already become a critical personality in the team culture. It’s also worth noting that Richardson previously played with Foligno on the Senators and coached Perry on the Canadiens.
It could be interesting how warmly or coldly Hawks fans welcome Perry — a pesky player they largely despised during his heyday on the Ducks — to the United Center for Thursday’s preseason opener.
