It was widely assumed that Blake Wheeler would inherit Andrew Ladd’s captaincy in Winnipeg and, on Wednesday, the club made it official.
Wheeler, 30, will become the second player to captain the Jets since the franchise moved from Atlanta in 2011, with Dustin Byfuglien and Mark Scheifele serving as alternates.
The Wheeler decision was something of a no-brainer, as he’s one of the club’s longest tenured player (seven seasons and counting), spending the the last three as one of Ladd’s alternate captains.
"What an incredible gift we have to have Blake as a player," says Maurice. Byfuglien, Scheifele named alternate captains. #breakingnews
— Jason Bell (@WFPJasonBell) August 31, 2016
"Blake Wheeler is the captain of this team because he's earned it." - #NHLJets HC Paul Maurice
— Ken Wiebe (@WiebesWorld) August 31, 2016
"An important day in our franchise history." NHLJets HC P Maurice
— Paul Friesen (@friesensunmedia) August 31, 2016
In the summer of ’13, Wheeler inked a six-year, $33.6 million extension with the Jets and has since established himself as one of the clubhouse leaders. He was a prominent voice during the Evander Kane saga, mincing no words when explaining what was expected of Jets players.
“There’s a standard that everyone needs to live up to,” Wheeler said, per the Sun. “We’re professionals, we make a lot of money. And we’re expected to uphold a certain standard. That’s the code we live by.
“If you don’t like it then there’s other places to go. This is the way we do things.”