Montreal Canadiens: Who is Next Captain of the Habs?

The Montreal Canadiens were dealt a heavy blow when it was revealed that captain Shea Weber would miss all of next season, and likely the rest of his career, with several injuries.

Looking back at the video of the team after they were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final and it looks like many teammates were aware of Weber’s ailments. The big right shot defender got a few extra taps and huge from teammates who appeared to know it was Weber’s last game with the Canadiens.

They are going to fill his ice time and defensive role with David Savard who signed a four year contract with a $3.5 million cap hit. Savard should be able to step into a top four role and play terrific defensive minutes, but that is only part of what Weber brought to the team.

Weber’s leadership abilities made his a natural fit as the captain of the team for the past three seasons. With him out of the lineup for the entire upcoming campaign, the captaincy is another component of the team that needs to be filled for next season. Though he is still technically part of the team and will just be on long-term injured reserve, if the management knows his career is over it would make sense to just replace him as captain immediately.

The Canadiens have played seasons without anyone wearing the captain’s “C” before, most recently in 2014-15 after Brian Gionta left town. They also went captain-less for a year in 2009-10 after Saku Koivu left to sign with the Anaheim Ducks.

However, if they choose to replace Weber right away, there are some excellent candidates to take on the role by the start of training camp. Let’s take a look at the top three.