List of current NHL captains and alternate captains

Sidney Crosby, captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins since 2007

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league with 32 teams founded in 1917. Each team can select a captain, who has the "sole privilege of discussing with the Referee any questions relating to interpretation of rules which may arise during the progress of a game". Each team is also allowed to pick alternate captains, who work when the captain is not on the ice. Captains have to wear the letter "C" on their uniform to show who they are; alternate captains wear the letter "A". Both letters are 3 inches (7.6 cm) in height.

Some teams in the NHL do not have a captain. Rule 6.2 of the 2008–09 Official NHL Rulebook says that "[only] when the Captain is not in uniform, the Coach shall have the right to designate three Alternate Captains. This must be done prior to the start of the game." Many NHL teams with a captain select more than two alternate captains and change who wears the "A" for different games during the season.

Goaltenders are not allowed to be captains during games. This rule was made in 1948 after teams did not like that it took Montreal Canadiens goaltender Bill Durnan too long to skate to talk with the officials and back to his crease. However, Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo was the team's captain, but because of the NHL rule against goaltender captains, the league did not allow Luongo to act as captain on-ice. Because of this, the Canucks were allowed to have three alternate captains in games, instead of two that most teams have. Two (of the three) alternate captains took care of Luongo's on-ice work: Willie Mitchell (then alternate captain) talked to the officials. Luongo was not allowed to wear the "C" on his jersey, but it was part of the artwork on the front of his mask. Other than Durnan and Luongo, five other goaltenders have been captain o their team: John Ross Roach of the Toronto St. Patricks, George Hainsworth of the Montreal Canadiens, Roy Worters of the New York Americans, Alex Connell of the Ottawa Senators, and Charlie Gardiner of the Chicago Black Hawks.

When Connor McDavid was named captain of the Edmonton Oilers, he became the youngest permanent captain in NHL history. Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, are the second- and third-youngest players to be named captain in NHL history, respectively. In 1984, Brian Bellows was named interim captain of the Minnesota North Stars when Craig Hartsburg was injured, and is the youngest player to captain a team in NHL history. However, because Bellows served only on an interim basis, McDavid retains the distinction of being the youngest permanent captain in the League's history. Mark Messier is the only player to captain two separate teams to Stanley Cup championships, those being the 1990Edmonton Oilers and the 1994 New York Rangers. Sidney Crosby also became the youngest captain to win the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. The oldest permanent captain in league history was Mark Messier of the New York Rangers, who turned 43 years old, during his last NHL season, 2003–04. The longest tenure in league history was Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings, who served as captain of the Red Wings for (nineteen seasons) twenty years.

Key

 †  Spent entire NHL career with team

Position abbreviations

Abbreviation	Definition
C	Centre
LW	Left wing
RW	Right Wing
D	Defenceman

Captains

Jonathan Toews, captain of the Chicago Blackhawks since 2008

Alexander Ovechkin, captain of the Washington Capitals since 2010

Ryan Getzlaf, captain of the Anaheim Ducks since 2010

Twenty-six of the thirty-one NHL teams currently have a captain. The five teams without a captain are the Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, and the Vegas Golden Knights. Of the twenty-six captains, twenty of them have been with their team for their entire career. The current longest-tenured captain in the League is Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who has served in the role since May 31, 2007.

List of current NHL Captains

Team	Captain	Since	Pos
Anaheim Ducks	Ryan Getzlaf†	2010–11	C
Arizona Coyotes	Oliver Ekman-Larsson†	2018–19	D
Boston Bruins	Patrice Bergeron†	2020–21	C
Buffalo Sabres	Jack Eichel†	2018–19	C
Calgary Flames	Mark Giordano†	2013–14	D
Carolina Hurricanes	Jordan Staal	2019–20	C
Chicago Blackhawks	Jonathan Toews†	2008–09	C
Colorado Avalanche	Gabriel Landeskog†	2012–13	LW
Columbus Blue Jackets	Nick Foligno	2015–16	LW/C
Dallas Stars	Jamie Benn†	2013–14	LW
Detroit Red Wings	Dylan Larkin†	2020–21	C
Edmonton Oilers	Connor McDavid†	2016–17	C
Florida Panthers	Aleksander Barkov†	2018–19	C
Los Angeles Kings	Anze Kopitar†	2016–17	C
Minnesota Wild	Jared Spurgeon†	2020–21	D
Montreal Canadiens	Shea Weber	2018–19	D
Nashville Predators	Roman Josi†	2017–18	D
New Jersey Devils	Vacant	2019–20	—
New York Islanders	Anders Lee†	2018–19	LW
New York Rangers	Vacant	2017–18	—
Ottawa Senators	Vacant	2018–19	—
Philadelphia Flyers	Claude Giroux†	2012–13	C
Pittsburgh Penguins	Sidney Crosby†	2007–08	C
San Jose Sharks	Logan Couture†	2019–20	C
St. Louis Blues	Ryan O'Reilly	2020–21	C
Tampa Bay Lightning	Steven Stamkos†	2013–14	C
Toronto Maple Leafs	John Tavares	2019–20	C
Vancouver Canucks	Bo Horvat†	2019–20	C
Vegas Golden Knights	Mark Stone	2020–21	RW
Washington Capitals	Alexander Ovechkin†	2009–10	LW
Winnipeg Jets	Blake Wheeler	2016–17	RW

Alternate captains

Evgeni Malkin, the longest tenured alternate captain in the NHL, and alternate captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins since 2008

Duncan Keith, alternate captain of the Chicago Blackhawks since 2008

Nicklas Backstrom, alternate captain of the Washington Capitals since 2010

Thirty of the thirty-one NHL teams have named at least the regulation two alternate captains. The one team having less than the regulation two named alternate captains is the Buffalo Sabres. Of the eighty alternate captains, forty-nine of them have been with their team for entire career. Teams that have named more than the regulation two alternate captains, excluding those without a captain, are required to rotate the two "A"s between those players by methods of their choosing. The current longest-tenured alternate captain in the League is Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who has served in the role since October 3, 2008.

List of current NHL alternate captains

Team	Alternate captain(s)	Since	Pos
Anaheim Ducks	Ryan Kesler	2015–16	C
	Josh Manson†	2019–20	D
	Jakob Silfverberg	2019–20	RW
Arizona Coyotes	Niklas Hjalmarsson	2017–18	D
	Phil Kessel	2019–20	RW
Boston Bruins	David Krejci†	2013–14	C
	Brad Marchand†	2020–21	RW
Buffalo Sabres	Jake McCabe†	2019–20	D
	Kyle Okposo	2020–21	RW
Calgary Flames	Mikael Backlund†	2018–19	C
	Sean Monahan†	2015–16	C
	Matthew Tkachuk†	2018–19	LW
Carolina Hurricanes	Jordan Martinook	2019–20	C
	Jaccob Slavin†	2019–20	D
Chicago Blackhawks	Patrick Kane†	2019–20	RW
	Duncan Keith†	2008–09	D
Colorado Avalanche	Mikko Rantanen		RW
	Cale Makar		D
	Nathan MacKinnon†		C
Columbus Blue Jackets
	Cam Atkinson†	2018–19	LW
	Boone Jenner†	2015–16	C
	Seth Jones	2018–19	D
Dallas Stars
	Blake Comeau	2019–20	RW
	John Klingberg†	2017–18	D
	Esa Lindell†	2019–20	D
	Tyler Seguin	2017–18	C
Detroit Red Wings	Luke Glendening†	2019–20	C
	Frans Nielsen	2018–19	C
Edmonton Oilers
	Leon Draisaitl†	2019–20	C
	Adam Larsson	2017–18	D
	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins†	2015–16	C
	Darnell Nurse†	2019–20	D
Florida Panthers
	Aaron Ekblad †	2016–17	D
	Jonathan Huberdeau †	2018–19	LW
	Keith Yandle	2017–18	D
Los Angeles Kings	Jeff Carter	2015–16	C/RW
	Drew Doughty†	2016–17	D
Minnesota Wild	Zach Parise	2012–13	LW
	Ryan Suter	2012–13	D
Montreal Canadiens	Paul Byron	2018–19	LW
	Brendan Gallagher†	2015–16	RW
Nashville Predators
	Mattias Ekholm†	2017–18	D
	Ryan Ellis†	2017–18	D
	Filip Forsberg†	2017–18	LW
	Ryan Johansen	2017–18	C
New Jersey Devils
	Nico Hischier†	2019–20	C
	Kyle Palmieri	2017–18	C
	Damon Severson†	2020–21	D
	Travis Zajac†	2013–14	C
New York Islanders
	Josh Bailey†	2018–19	RW
	Cal Clutterbuck	2016–17	RW
New York Rangers
	Chris Kreider†	2017–18	LW
	Artemi Panarin	2020–21	LW
	Jacob Trouba	2020–21	D
	Mika Zibanejad	2018–19	C
Ottawa Senators
	Thomas Chabot†	2019–20	D
	Erik Gudbranson	2020–21	D
	Brady Tkachuk†	2020–21	LW
Philadelphia Flyers
	Sean Couturier†	2018–19	C
	Kevin Hayes	2019–20	C
	Ivan Provorov†	2020–21	D
	Jakub Voracek	2018–19	RW
Pittsburgh Penguins	Kris Letang†	2017–18	D
	Evgeni Malkin†	2008–09	C
San Jose Sharks
	Brent Burns	2019–20	D
	Tomas Hertl†	2019–20	C
	Erik Karlsson	2019–20	D
	Patrick Marleau	2020–21	LW
St. Louis Blues
	Colton Parayko†	2020–21	D
	Brayden Schenn	2020–21	C
	Vladimir Tarasenko†	2016–17	RW
Tampa Bay Lightning	Victor Hedman†	2017–18	D
	Ryan McDonagh	2018–19	D
Toronto Maple Leafs
	Mitch Marner†	2019–20	RW
	Auston Matthews†	2019–20	C
	Morgan Rielly†	2016–17	D
Vancouver Canucks	Alexander Edler†	2016–17	D
	Brandon Sutter	2016–17	C
Vegas Golden Knights
	Alex Pietrangelo	2020–21	D
	Reilly Smith	2017–18	RW
Washington Capitals	Nicklas Backstrom†	2010–11	C
	John Carlson†	2019–20	D
Winnipeg Jets
	Josh Morrissey†	2019–20	D
	Mark Scheifele†	2016–17	C

Notes

• ^a Player is currently on the injured reserve list
• ^b Player is injured and expected to miss the remainder of the season.