Twenty-nine of the NHL’s 32 teams have a captain for the 2026-27 season. Three do not — Columbus, Detroit and Vancouver.
Two of those vacancies closed inside 24 hours as training camps opened. The New York Islanders named Bo Horvat on 14 September, with Kyle Palmieri and Ryan Pulock as alternates. Chicago gave the C to Connor Bedard the following day — at 21, the second-youngest captain in Blackhawks history behind Jonathan Toews, and one who will not play a game in the role until November as he recovers from July shoulder surgery. Patrick Kane and Tyler Bertuzzi wear the A alongside him.
Los Angeles named Drew Doughty on 16 September, the 15th captain in club history and the seventh defenceman to hold the job. He succeeds Anze Kopitar, who retired after last season, and had been an alternate since 2015-16. Kempe, Panarin and Anderson are his alternates.
Anaheim closed a fourth on 22 September, naming Mikael Granlund the 10th captain in club history. He succeeds Radko Gudas, who wore the C from 2024 to 2026, and has four alternates: Leo Carlsson, Alex Killorn, Jackson LaCombe and Troy Terry.
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Ottawa gave the C to Thomas Chabot on 29 September, the 11th captain in Senators history and the longest-serving player on the roster. He succeeds Brady Tkachuk, who held it for five seasons before he was traded to Florida in June. Claude Giroux, Jake Sanderson and Tim Stützle are the alternates.
The count was ten as recently as 2 September, when St. Louis named Robert Thomas and ended a leaguewide drought of eleven and a half months. Before Thomas, no NHL team had named a captain since J.T. Miller in New York on 18 September 2025 — a stretch covering an entire season, a trade deadline, a draft and a free agency period, during which eight teams lost a captain and none replaced one.
Every NHL captain, 2026-27
| Team | Captain | Pos | Named |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Ducks | Mikael Granlund | C | 2026 |
| Boston Bruins | David Pastrnak | RW | 2026 |
| Buffalo Sabres | Rasmus Dahlin | D | 2024 |
| Calgary Flames | Mikael Backlund | C | 2023 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Jordan Staal | C | 2019 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | Connor Bedard | C | 2026 |
| Colorado Avalanche | Gabriel Landeskog | LW | 2012 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | vacant | — | — |
| Dallas Stars | Jamie Benn | LW | 2013 |
| Detroit Red Wings | vacant | – | – |
| Edmonton Oilers | Connor McDavid | C | 2016 |
| Florida Panthers | Aleksander Barkov | C | 2018 |
| Los Angeles Kings | Drew Doughty | D | 2026 |
| Minnesota Wild | Jared Spurgeon | D | 2021 |
| Montreal Canadiens | Nick Suzuki | C | 2022 |
| Nashville Predators | Roman Josi | D | 2017 |
| New Jersey Devils | Nico Hischier | C | 2021 |
| New York Islanders | Bo Horvat | C | 2026 |
| New York Rangers | J.T. Miller | C | 2025 |
| Ottawa Senators | Thomas Chabot | D | 2026 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Sean Couturier | C | 2024 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Sidney Crosby | C | 2007 |
| San Jose Sharks | Macklin Celebrini | C | 2026 |
| Seattle Kraken | Jordan Eberle | RW | 2024 |
| St. Louis Blues | Robert Thomas | C | 2026 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Victor Hedman | D | 2024 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Auston Matthews | C | 2024 |
| Utah Mammoth | Clayton Keller | RW | 2024 |
| Vancouver Canucks | vacant | — | — |
| Vegas Golden Knights | Mark Stone | RW | 2021 |
| Washington Capitals | Alex Ovechkin | LW | 2010 |
| Winnipeg Jets | Adam Lowry | C | 2023 |
Verified against NHL.com’s official list of captains and individual team announcements, 7 September 2026.
How many NHL teams have no captain in 2026-27?
Three: Columbus, Detroit and Vancouver. That was four before Ottawa named a captain on 29 September, five before Boston on 27 September, six before San Jose on 25 September, seven before Anaheim on 22 September, nine when camps opened, and ten at the start of September.
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Which teams may not name a captain at all?
Boston closed the longest of the vacancies on 27 September, naming David Pastrnak the 28th captain in franchise history. He is the club’s first captain since Brad Marchand, who held the C from 2023 until he was traded to Florida in March 2025. Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm are the alternates.
Vancouver named a new alternate captain rather than a captain after trading Quinn Hughes, and has given no public indication that will change during its rebuild. Anaheim, Chicago and Columbus have said nothing either way.
Who is the longest-serving captain in the NHL?
Sidney Crosby is the longest-serving captain in the NHL, and by a wide margin. Crosby was named captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins on 31 May 2007 and enters 2026-27 in his 20th season wearing the C — 19 years and four months at opening night. The next-longest tenures belong to Alex Ovechkin in Washington, captain since January 2010, Gabriel Landeskog in Colorado since September 2012, and Jamie Benn in Dallas since September 2013. The average tenure among the league’s 23 sitting captains is 6.3 years and the median is 5.6, meaning Crosby has held his C roughly three and a half times longer than the typical NHL captain.
How many NHL captains are defencemen?
Six of the NHL’s 29 captains are defencemen: Rasmus Dahlin in Buffalo, Drew Doughty in Los Angeles, Jared Spurgeon in Minnesota, Roman Josi in Nashville, Victor Hedman in Tampa Bay and Thomas Chabot in Ottawa. That number halved over the past year. Quinn Hughes and Radko Gudas were both traded away from clubs where they wore the C, taking the count from six to four.
Centres dominate the role with 16 of 29, and seven captains are wingers
Can a goaltender be an NHL captain?
No goaltender can serve as an NHL captain under the current rules. Rule 6.1 of the NHL rulebook effectively bars it by preventing a goaltender from performing the captain’s on-ice function of discussing rule interpretations with officials. The last workaround came in Vancouver, where Roberto Luongo was designated captain from 2008 to 2010 while an alternate handled the on-ice duties; the league closed that route afterwards.
Updated 29 Sept: Ottawa named Thomas Chabot captain, three teams still without one
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