Who will be the Blues next captain?

I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t write a post about speculation regarding the Blues’ next captain. The thought was in my head at least a month ago: “if Alex Pietrangelo goes, who’s next?”

It’s Ryan O’Reilly. I don’t even know if it’s a contest.

Both Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko are starting the year on the LTIR, and Steen is entering the last year of his contract. Tarasenko is a leader, but to be honest, I’ve never gotten a feeling of “this guy speaks and the room stops to listen” out of him - which is all speculation, because I obviously am not privy to what happens in the locker room and neither are (most?) of our readers.

O’Reilly certainly leads by example on the ice. His Conn Smythe winning performance in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final was a clinic, and his example more than likely motivated the team to their victory.

He wasn’t a full time A last year but did wear it while Tarasenko was out.

It’s very rare that I ever feel comfortable predicting anything about this team. I’m notoriously bad at it. This is one time where I can actually feel confident.

From my mouth (and the mouth of nearly everyone else who writes about the Blues) to Doug Armstrong’s ears: Ryan O’Reilly will be the team’s next captain.