Who should wear the As for the Canucks in 2025-26?

Quinn Hughes is the captain of the Vancouver Canucks, and should remain so for the immediate future, a fact for which we can all be grateful.

But there’s an argument to be made that, heading into the 2025-26 season, the rest of Vancouver’s official leadership group is entirely undefined. So, who should wear the As on their jersey for the Canucks this year?

At the outset of the 2024-25 season, the leadership group was the trio of Hughes with a ‘C,’ Elias Pettersson with one ‘A,’ and JT Miller wi th the other ‘A.’ And let’s just say it didn’t quite work out.

Miller was traded in late January 2025, and after that, the situation became a little more fluid. Tyler Myers was the designated inheritor of Miller’s ‘A,’ though no formal announcement was ever made. Whether or not Myers deserved the honour in the long-term – and it’s kind of hard to argue he doesn’t – it had more the feel of an in-season, interim thing than an official decision.

Pettersson retained the other ‘A,’ at least for the time being. With his well-documented struggles, there were calls from at least some corners to remove the letter, either to send a message or remove a distraction, or both. In any case, when Pettersson’s season ended early due to compounding injuries on March 22, 2025, the team elected to replace him on a rotating basis.

Brock Boeser , the longest-tenured Canuck (aside from Guillaume Brisebois), seemed like a natural choice, but he did not receive full claim to that vacant ‘A.’ A number of Canucks wore it between March and April, including Boeser, Derek Forbort, and even the newly-acquired Marcus Pettersson.

Believe it or not, this choice even caused a light controversy, with one publication (but not this publication) referring to it as a “bizarre leadership decision” that “disrespected” Boeser.

That’s a little dramatic for our tastes, but it highlights the core point we’re getting at here, which is that the alternate captaincy of the Canucks is currently about as unsettled as it could be. That means an opportunity for a change-up, if the front office and coaching staff so desire.

There is no obligation to stick with Myers, someone named on an impromptu basis after a major in-season trade.

And, if the team wants to look at it this way, there’s also no real obligation to stick with Pet tersson. As we said already, there were plenty of calls to put his ‘A’ on someone else’s chest long before he exited the lineup, and the fact that others wore it in the meantime provides all the ‘excuse’ the Canucks could want to make a change – if they so desire. The break in continuity there could be short-term, or it could be long-term.

Now, the reality here is that the most boring answer is probably the likeliest one. Myers is the oldest player on the team, beating Forbort by two years, and remains one of the most well-respected and well-liked teammates on the roster. He still plays a large role on the ice (in more ways than one), has a history of sticking up for teammates, and occasionally finds ways to really shift the momentum out there.

The easiest call to make is probably making Myers’ ‘A’ a permanent one.

It’s also most likely that the Canucks just stick with Pettersson for the other ‘A.’ Even with what we said about the break in continuity c reating an opportunity for a more long-term change, there’s no way that Pettersson being ‘stripped’ of an alternate captaincy would escape the notice of fans and media. There would be questions right away, and that’s the sort of negative buzz the Canucks would probably like to avoid with Pettersson this year – especially right off the bat.

Were Pettersson to approach the team and ask not to wear an ‘A’ because he’d rather focus on his own game, well, then, that’s different – and it doesn’t sound entirely out of the realm of possibility. But if not, he’ll probably remain an alternate moving forward.

There are, of course, other options. Boeser made a significant commitment to the team by re-signing for seven years after testing free agency ever so briefly. He’s an obvious option, even if it comes with a particularly quiet brand of leadership.

Marcus Pettersson wore th e ‘A’ a few times for the Canucks last year after only being in town for a month or so, and that’s a strong testament to his inherent leadership chops. It’s a role he played in Pittsburgh while there, and played well, according to no less a source than Sidney Crosby, who texted Rick Tocchet about Pettersson’s leadership following the trade.

Say what you will about the other candidates on this list, but only one comes with a ringing endorsement from hockey’s greatest captain.

The other individual who wore an ‘A’ last year was Forbort, and there’s a lot to like about the veteran. He helped transform the penalty kill, covered injuries ably, and dropped the mitts to defend his captain. That’s leadership material, to be sure. The only real issue is that it’s currently unclear just how much time Forbort will be spending in the lineup in 2025-26, and how much time he’ll be spending in the pressbox to make way for youngsters like the other Elias Pettersson, Tom Willander, and Victor Mancini. It’s tough to give an ‘A’ to someone who might miss half the games.

Another name worthy of mention is Conor Garland. Like Boeser, he showed commitment to the team with a six-year extension – this one signed a year ahead of time, to boot. And if we’re talking about an alternate captain who leads by example, it’s tough to find someone who puts forth a more consistent, outsized effort than Garland. Sometimes, you need a captain to drag his teammates into the fight, and that’s definitely Garland.

Don’t worry: even though Thatcher Demko also showed commitment to the team by re-signing ahead of time, we’re not going to put his name out there. The Canucks have been there, done that.

Really, that’s about it. You’d love to reward someone like Kiefer Sherwood with a letter for many of the same reasons listed for Garland, but he’s a year away from free agency. Jake DeBrusk and Filip Hronek are signed long-term, but don’t seem like the right personalities for the job.

So, it’s probably a trio of Hughes, Myers, and Elias Pettersson I for 2025-26. But there’s also a chance we see any of Boeser, Marcus Pettersson, Forbort, or Garland in there, too. The Canucks could always go back to a rotation if they wanted. Maybe Myers and Elias wear the ‘A’ for home games, and Boeser and Marcus wear them on the road. It’s something the team has done before on a semi-regular basis, and it’s fairly common around the league.

Whichever way they decide, with Training Camp around the corner, expect to know soon – whether that comes in the form of a formal announcement, or just the letters showing up on the front of the jerseys.