Blackhawks: Alex DeBrincat Wearing the “A” Is The Right Choice

The Chicago Blackhawks are entering this season without Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. This year some other players are going to have to step up and take on a leadership role with letters on their jerseys.

Obviously, Jonathan Toews is the captain, and Patrick Kane is going to wear an A on his jersey as an assistant captain. Outside of that though there were some different options for the team for the other assistant captain.

Well, the Blackhawks leadership group might have been leaked with the team’s official headshots. Toews as the captain, Kane and DeBrincat as assistants. That might not be the full story here as the team’s official website has Connor Murphy also with an A on his jersey. Maybe the pair (DeBrincat and Murphy) will each take turns wearing the letter, one at home and one on the road type of thing.

The website does say it is the 2020-21 season’s roster, but it is updated with all the new players on the team.

Now on to why DeBrincat being an assistant captain would be the right call for the Blackhawks:

The Blackhawks are entering a new era now for real. With the core group of the championships all gone, it was time to basically name the next face of the team, and the Hawks did that by making DeBrincat an assistant captain.

DeBrincat has been one of the more interesting players on this team for a while now. He struggled a few years ago but during that time he learned how to help out the team outside of just scoring goals.

Last year was a great year for him putting up 32 goals in 52 games. It is amazing to think how many he could have scored in a full season. DeBrincat is going to be a Blackhawk for a long time. His current contract is through the 2022-23 season, but after that, the team’s top priority will be DeBrincat and making sure he gets his big payday.

Now one interesting thing to note if the Hawks do opt for DeBrincat and Murphy splitting time with a letter, that would mean the team has three assistant captains that are all from the United States. Three potential players that could be on team USA at the Olympics. That probably is not groundbreaking to have three players with letters all from the US but hey it is worth noting!

If the Hawks do opt to rotate DeBrincat and Murphy let us know if you think that is the right decision for the team. There are plenty of other players who could wear the letter like the future star of the blue line in Seth Jones.