Report: Montreal Canadiens have decided on next captain!

The Montreal Canadiens did not have a captain this year, as Shea Weber's professional career all but officially ended at the conclusion of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final that saw the Habs miss their chance at a title for the 1st time since 1993. 

Of course, last year was the season from hell for Montreal, who would fire head coach Dominique Ducharme after an abysmal start en route to finishing dead last in the NHL at 22-49-11. However, it appears as though a new dawn of leadership is on the horizon for the bleu, blanc et rouge.

According to Montreal Hockey Now's Jimmy Murphy, the Habs are preparing to give the captaincy to either Brendan Gallagher or Nick Suzuki: 

“Most definitely those two; two different types of leaders but both captain material,” a team source told Montreal Hockey Now late Wednesday afternoon. “Clearly, like ‘Simmer’ said in the tweet, it’s a lot to ask of Suzuki right now and ‘Gally’ has already proven for a while now that he’s a leader. Still, I think Nick can handle it too despite being younger than ‘Gally’.

Meanwhile, take a look at what Gallagher himself had to say about Susuki: 

“You look at a guy like ‘Suuz’, a younger player that is probably going to get that opportunity this year and he’s going to get that opportunity because guys are already looking at him and willing to follow him,” Gallagher said last September after the Canadiens knew they would be without then captain Shea Weber.

Drafted 147th overall by the Habs in 2010, Gallagher has appeared in 638 career games, scoring 194 goals and 187 assists. He also has 31 points in 71 career postseason games. Suzuki, who was taken 13th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, first arrived in Montreal in September of 2018 alongside Tomas Tatar in the deal that sent former Habs captain Max Pacioretty the other way to Vegas.