Jets strip Blake Wheeler of captaincy, will begin 2022-2023 without one
In July, the Winnipeg Jets hired Rick Bowness to help turn the team around after a lackluster campaign last season.
With just under a month until the start of the 2022-2023 season, Bowness isn't waiting until puck-drop to make radical changes.
On Friday, the Jets announced a "restructuring" of the team's leadership group, starting by striping veteran Blake Wheeler of his captaincy.
"It is the determination of the coaching staff that we will enter the 2022-23 season without a specific captain, but rather a group of assistants still to be determined," Bowness said via the Jets' press release. "It is our goal to expand the leadership base within our hockey team. We have high expectations for our core players and we want to provide them with the opportunity to step into those greater leadership roles as a group."
Named captain in 2016, Wheeler has been with the organization even longer, going back to the Atlanta Thrasher's days before the team moved to Winnipeg.
On Friday, Wheeler said he was surprised by the move, but he's had time to let it sink in.
While it's yet to be determined who will be a part of the Jets' new leadership group, Wheeler had an interesting answer when asked about the possibility of trading in his "C" for an "A" this season.
"I don't need a letter on my jersey," Wheeler said. "There was a time in my career where that validation was important to me. I don't need that anymore."
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