This offseason featured an extreme roster overhaul that included the reconstruction of the defense, offense, and goaltending. Among all these changes, it can be easy to overlook the overhaul of a different group — the leadership group.
All the official captains or alternate captains from last season are no longer with the team. The Coyotes’ ownership group’s clear dissatisfaction with Oliver-Ekman Larsson likely would have resulted in losing his captaincy had he not been traded. In addition, Niklas Hjalmarsson retired, and Derick Brassard signed another one-year deal, this time with the Philadelphia Flyers.
After the team elected not to re-sign Shane Doan in 2017, they waited a year before naming Oliver Ekman-Larsson captain.