The Edmonton Oilers announced this morning that they will play the 2015-16 season without a captain. Instead, they named four assistant captains to lead the group by committee. Matt Hendricks will wear a fifth “A” while Jordan Eberle is on the shelf with a shoulder injury. 

It was a tough situation for Andrew Ference in terms of retaining the captaincy. He’s at a place in his career where he won’t be in the lineup every night, and the Oilers were in a spot where they couldn’t have their captain sitting in the press box. Spreading the leadership around through four alternate captains make sense to me. It makes even more sense if the plan (if there is one) is to give the “C” to Connor McDavid when he’s ready. A move needed to happen and the Oilers have handled it well. 

I think we’d all agree that Andrew Ference is a wonderful human being, and a leader in the community, but the fact remains that his decline in play is the reason this move had to be made. They need their captain to be in the lineup. The Oilers are a young team in transition and need the leadership to follow suit. This team needs to be “handed” to the young core that will lead them for the next decade, and this is the first step to making that happen. Keeping Ference as an alternate captain also shows respect to a veteran player, and I commend the Oilers for showing some class in a tough situation.

Thoughts?