*Photo from Bleedin Blue*
Another C is being donned in the Midwest. St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn has been named the captain of the franchise, according to an announcement by the Blues on Tuesday.
Schenn said of being named captain that "The St. Louis Blues are a pretty historic franchise with many great leaders. If you look at the list of guys being captain of the St. Louis Blues before with the Plager brothers to Bernie Federko, the kind of era I grew up watching with Gretzky, Hull, Pronger, MacInnis. To be in history with the St. Louis Blues of being a captain with those guys is pretty special and a tremendous honor and I'm excited for that opportunity and challenge."
After Ryan O'Reilly was traded at last year's trade deadline, the Blues had been without a captain. Now, Schenn becomes the 24th captain in the history of the Blues. 7 of the Blues 23 previous captains have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Schenn played his 6th season in a Blues uniform last year after being traded by the Philadelphia Flyers. He put up 21 goals and 44 assists for 65 points, posting a -27 rating while averaging 18:26 of ice time in 82 games for the Blues, who failed to make the playoffs.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong said "But the process started, talking to a lot of different people in our organization, outside the organization in different sports on leadership, on leadership by committee, what it took. I just kept coming back to experience, transitioning into a new era. When I got to the criteria that was most important to this team moving forward, 'Schenner' was the natural option. These decisions aren't made in a vacuum. I had a lot of different people giving me input in place, great support from ownership, Mr. Stillman and his group asking me the questions that went into the decision and then supporting the decision."
Serving as an alternate captain for the last 3 seasons, Schenn was a first round pick of the Los Angeles Kings, chosen 5th overall in the 2009 NHL Draft. In his first year with the Blues, Schenn had 28 goals and 42 assists for 70 points, a career high in points.
The upcoming season will be the 4th of Schenn's current contract. It's an 8 year, $52 million contract that has a $6.5 million AAV. Schenn has a full no trade clause for the coming year and the next one, followed by a modified no trade clause for the final 3 years, in the form of a 15 team no trade list.
Blues head coach Craig Berube said of Schenn that "He's learned from five different captains that he talked about and saw how things were done, he's won, he leads by example. His teammates are here supporting him. That's a good sign right there in my opinion that they're here to show the support. I think Brayden does everything the right way on and off the ice. Off the ice, you don't see all the little things he does, the work he puts in every day on the ice, off the ice, how he treats his teammates and supports his teammates and helps his teammates. On the ice, you guys see what he does. He brings toughness, he brings scoring, he brings all the intangibles that go into a captain."
Schenn has 14 years in the NHL under his belt, split between the Kings, Flyers, and Blues. He has racked up 240 goals and 349 assists for 589 points, averaging 17:29 of ice time with a -24 rating in 858 regular season games. He also has 11 goals and 29 assists in 75 playoff games.
This season, the Blues will have forward Robert Thomas along with defensemen Justin Faulk and Colton Parayko as alternate captains under Schenn.
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