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The New York Rangers need a captain? Not so fast!

BySteve Paulus|
NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 25: Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers congratulates teammate Mika Zibanejad #93 after he secored the game winning goal in overtime against the New Jersey Devils on February 25, 2017 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.The New York Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 25: Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers congratulates teammate Mika Zibanejad #93 after he secored the game winning goal in overtime against the New Jersey Devils on February 25, 2017 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.The New York Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
new york rangers
Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers celebrates his first period goal and is joined by Chris Kreider #20 . (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The New York Rangers have not had a captain in over two years, preferring a rotation of alternate captains.  The popular opinion is that the time has come to pick one, but that may not be a good idea.

Mika Zibanejad for captain!  Chris Kreider for captain!  The New York Rangers don’t have a captain and they need one now!  Blue Line Station’s Andrew Steele-Davis made a compelling argument for a choice to be made and came down in favor of Kreider.  You can read the story by clicking below.

I would argue that if you look at recent history, being captain of the New York Rangers has been kind of a jinx.  Fundamentally, bad things happen to players selected to be captain. Here’s what happened over the last 23 years:

Ryan McDonagh – 2014-18Ryan Callahan – 2011-14Martin St. LouisChris Drury – 2008-11Brian LeetchJaromir Jagr  – 2006-08Glen SatherMark Messier – 2000-04

Brian Leetch – 1997-2000
The soft spoken Leetch was given the unenviable task of succeeding Messier,  one of  the greatest captains and team leaders in NHL history.  Not only that, team management made a series of ill-fated trades and free agent signings.  The result?  One of the best Rangers ever became the first and only Rangers captain in the post-expansion NHL to miss the playoffs every year he led the team. Not only that, Leetch was banished to Toronto in the purge of 2004.

So, what to do?

Considering that the careers of the last six Rangers captains didn’t end so well (at least in New York), it may not be a bad idea to keep the alternate captain rotation going for a while.    The fact that Kreider is under contract for years doesn’t matter, it didn’t help Leetch or Drury.  ZIbanejad is facing a contract extension negotiation that should begin next summer.  You know what happened to McDonagh, Callahan and Jagr, all former captains whose contractual status led to their premature departures from New York.

And, to make matters worse, if recent history is any indication the next Ranger captain will end up getting traded to Tampa, like Callahan and McDonagh.

Leadership comes from the individual and the addition of a capital “C” on the jersey really doesn’t mean anything.  There’s no doubt who the leaders of this Rangers team are and keeping a rotation that includes both Zibanejad and Kreider certainly sounds like the best option.  Hey, let’s add Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren to the rotation for good measure.

Just a suggestion.

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