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Subban would ‘embrace’ Montreal captaincy

Montreal Canadiens v New York Rangers - Game Six

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 29: P.K. Subban #76 of the Montreal Canadiens looks on against the New York Rangers during Game Six of the Eastern Conference Final in the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 29, 2014 in New York City. Rangers defeated the Canadiens 1-0. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Earlier this summer, online oddsmaker Bovada listed P.K. Subban as the favorite to become Montreal’s next captain.

Now, Subban says he’s ready for the honor.

“I think that I’d embrace it,” Subban said Tuesday, per the Canadian Press. “Added responsibility to me makes a player better, and I think I’ve accomplished a lot in a short time in this League and I’ve earned the respect of my peers and my opponents to command the respect that a captain deserves.”

Many people -- aside from oddsmakers -- feel that Subban tops the list of potential candidates to replace Brian Gionta, who took over Montreal’s captaincy in 2010 but signed with Buffalo on the opening day of free agency.

Gionta succeeded Saku Koivu, who’d been the Habs’ captain from 1999-2009 but left as a free agent following the 2008-09 season. (Of note, 2009-10 was the first time in club history the Canadiens played a full season without a captain.)

Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov and Max Pacioretty are the other logical choices to inherit Gionta’s “C”. Markov has the most experience in terms of leadership as he was named Montreal’s alternate captain in 2010, but Plekanec isn’t that far behind — he captained the Czech Republic’s team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, reprising his role from the 2012 World Hockey Championships.

Pacioretty, meanwhile, has already stated his desire to be the next captain.

“Of course,” he said of wanting it, per Sportsnet. ”There’s a lot of guys on the team who feel like they could be a good captain, and that’s a good thing. Whoever is named captain is going to have a lot of help.

“When you have that surrounding of a lot of leaders in the group, it makes it easier on the person who wears the C.”

There have been 28 captains in Canadiens history, with Koivu and Jean Beliveau sharing the record for longest tenure (10 years).