On Thursday, the Blackhawks introduced Nick Foligno as the team’s captain, the 35th player in franchise history to be in that position.
It felt like a foregone conclusion based on the way the 2023-24 season unfolded, even if it seems like a temporary measure and the real intrigue involving this team’s leadership involves none of the group currently sporting letters on their sweaters.
Those more cynically inclined may have the press conference and everything else that came about with Foligno’s appointment to that position may have been a little much for a player who’ll likely be in that role for probably two seasons at the very most — especially when compared against the prior captain, who was expected to be around for the next decade-plus (and was). If a little over-the-top PR is the price for the appearance of a front office that seems to have a reputation around the league for being a place where players want to play, it’s worth it.
And Foligno does make perfect sense in the present. He’s a veteran of over 1,000 NHL games who’s been a captain before, is — by pretty much every account — well respected in the Chicago locker room and had the same respect in every other room he’s resided during his lengthy career. Having Foligno bear the responsibilities of the captaincy so that guys like Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski and others can focus more on hockey feels beneficial to all parties involved.
The more interesting part from this vantage point, though, is what comes next.
Not necessarily the captaincy, either: the “C” is almost certainly going to Bedard in the next offseason or two and we all hope it stays there until at least 2040. But that “C” is just a letter. Jonathan Toews may have been the captain of those vaunted Hawks teams of recent memory but there are plenty of testimonies to Brent Seabrook being the real pulse of those teams.
It’s like the scene below from the third Mighty Ducks movie when Charlie Conway goes to visit old friend Hans — not knowing it’d be the last time he’d see Hans alive — and complains to Hans about his new coach saying, “How can he expect me to lead when he takes away my ‘C’?”
Hans responds by pointing out that, “It’s only a letter, Charlie,” before reaching into a nearby drawer and grabbing a handful of patches while Conway continues to miss the point.
It’s just a letter and it’s destined for Bedard, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll be the true leader of this next era of Blackhawks hockey. It won’t be any of the current trio of letter-wearing Blackhawks, either, as Foligno and Connor Murphy are both on the wrong side of 30 and Seth Jones has never seemed to be that type of person, which isn’t really a problem.
Who’s it gonna be? Who’s going to be the one who can really tell when things are spiraling south and can call his teammates out for it? Who’s going to be the who may not speak often but will be heard by every set of ears in the room when he does? It could be Paul Ludwinski, who was a captain with the Kingston Frontenacs. It could be Ethan Del Mastro, who was a captain with the Mississauga Steelheads. It could be Colton Dach, who was a captain with the Kelowna Rockets. Given how much importance the Blackhawks placed on Foligno’s appointment as team captain, it shouldn’t be ignored that Nolan Allan was the captain at last week’s prospect showcase.
The on-ice product will be the most visible part of what makes or breaks this whole Blackhawks rebuild we’ll be watching for the next few years. But what happens off the ice can be just as vital and how that all comes together over the next handful of seasons should be an equally fascinating development as this next chapter of Blackhawks hockey unfolds.