Bedard, Celebrini, Schaefer set for captaincy push

Connor Bedard will miss the opening weeks of the 2026-27 season after shoulder surgery performed earlier this month.

Rebuilding franchises without captains

Ten NHL teams enter the offseason without a captain. The Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks and New York Islanders rank among those vacancies. Each club drafted one of the last three first-overall selections and now holds a direct path to install its franchise player as leader.

Chicago traded captain Nick Foligno at the 2026 trade deadline. Bedard, already wearing an alternate captain’s A during the 2025-26 season, becomes the obvious successor on a roster heavy with young talent and short on veterans. The 21-year-old forward will return from surgery after several weeks, yet the organization can still name him captain before puck drop.

San Jose faces a similar timeline with Macklin Celebrini. Logan Couture remains the nominal captain under the final year of his contract despite missing the entire season with osteitis pubis. Celebrini’s 45 goals and 115 points led the Sharks by wide margins and placed him fourth in Hart Trophy voting while earning a Ted Lindsay finalist nod.

Youngest captain possibility

New York’s vacancy opened when Anders Lee signed with Utah in free agency after eight seasons as captain. Matthew Schaefer, the 2025 first-overall pick and reigning Calder Cup defenseman, turns 19 on September 5. If installed before the September 29 season opener he would be 19 years and 24 days old, undercutting McDavid’s record of 19 years and 266 days set with Edmonton.

Celebrini finished second in Olympic scoring with five goals and 10 points while serving as the youngest NHL participant at the 2026 Games. Those performances, combined with his 115-point regular season, supply the statistical case for immediate elevation to captain despite his age of 20.

Leadership vacuum and timeline

Bedard’s absence at the start of training camp creates a narrow window for the Blackhawks to formalize his role without on-ice precedent. The Sharks can act immediately once Couture’s contract situation clarifies. The Islanders hold the most compressed calendar, with Schaefer eligible to wear the C from opening night.

Each appointment would place a Canadian-born first-overall pick at the center of a franchise rebuild. The three players already anchor Hockey Canada’s next core and would add NHL captaincies to their resumes before their 22nd birthdays.