Breaking: Canucks make captaincy decisions for 2018-19

The Vancouver Canucks announced today that they will have no official captain to replace Henrik Sedin this upcoming season, electing to go with a leadership group that consists of Alex Edler, Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter and Chris Tanev.

 Canucks set roster, name leadership group for 2018.19 season. “Our team culture will be built from leadership by committee. It will be a big part of our process and our identity each and every game.”

Check out the official press release courtesy of the Canucks’ website:

*Vancouver, B.C. -*Canucks General Manager Jim Benning and Head Coach Travis Green announced today the club’s 23-man opening night roster ahead of the season opener versus Calgary on Wednesday, October 3rd.

Benning and Green also announced the leadership appointments of Alex Edler, Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter and Chris Tanev who will serve as alternate captains for the 2018.19 season.

“Alex Edler, Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter and Chris Tanev form our leadership group as alternate captains, supported by a wider group of veteran players,” said Green. “Our team culture will be built from leadership by committee. It will be a big part of our process and our identity each and every game.”

Of course, H. Sedin retired from the NHL this past offseason after nearly 20 seasons with the Canucks organization, the past eight of which he served as the team's captain. The 2018-19 season will be the first time since 1974-75 that the Canucks have gone into a season without a captain. H. Sedin, of course, took over the captaincy after the ill fated two year experiment in which the Canucks named goaltender Roberto Luongo as team captain. Luongo was preceded by Canucks legend Markus Naslund who himself was preceded by Mark Messer... yeah Canucks fans would probably just like to forget about those Messier days. 

In other Canucks news, veteran forward Sam Gagner has officially cleared waivers, but it appears as though he will NOT report to the AHL's Utica Comets. Instead he'll report to the Toronto Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies in order to be closer to his hometown and his family. Classy move by both the Canucks and the Leafs in making this difficult decision.