Oilers Name 6 Alternate Captains Including Nugent-Hopkins

When the Edmonton Oilers named Andrew Ference as their new captain, the move may have caught some by surprise.  Today, the team announced that six players will wear the alternate captain ‘A’ on their jersey to support Ference both on the ice and in the dressing room.

According to the Oilers official Twitter account the club will have two sets of alternate captains, or assistant captains as the media department likes to call them.

None of the names come as a surprise except for Nugent-Hopkins.  At just 20-years old, RNH has only played in 102 career games and is currently sidelined thanks to off-season shoulder surgery.  Sure he’s part of the future with this team but why not give him a couple of years before lacing him with the responsibility of being an alternate captain.

Players like Ales Hemsky, Ladislav Smid or even David Perron would be better suited for the ‘A’ over RNH, but that’s just my opinion.  In the end, Dallas Eakins makes the call and he must like what he has seen from the kid despite not skating.  An off-ice leader is just as important as one on the ice so we’ll give Eakins the benefit of the doubt here.

There is no word yet on which three will sport the ‘A’ during the home games and which will have it during road games.

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