John Tavares is slated to be the next captain of the New York Islanders.
Islanders beat writer Arthur Staple tweeted that the young star would be given the “C” prior to the start of training camp next week.
“#Isles will have their new captain in place by the start of camp, I’m told — @91Tavares will be named early next week,” Staple tweeted.
Tavares would be the 14th captain in the history of the team and would replace Mark Streit as leader. Ed Westfall was the first Captain of the Islanders and was followed by the likes of Clark Gilles, Denis Potvin, Brent Sutter, Patrick Flately, Bryan McCabe, Trevor Linden, Kenny Jonsson, Michael Peca, Alexei Yashin, Bill Guerin and Doug Weight.
Tavares would become the sixth Islanders captain since 2000. The longest tenured leader in that span was Michael Peca who led the squad from 2001-05; since Peca, no Islander has remained captain for more than two years. Tavares is currently signed through 2017-18 and will likely remain captain during that span. If Tavares remains captain through the end of his contract he would be the longest tenured captain since Peca. He would also be the youngest Islander captain since Bryan McCabe; McCabe was 22 years old when he was awarded the role, the same age Tavares would be if he is named captain next week.
Tavares entered the league in 2009-10 and has led the Islanders offensively in every single season since. In his rookie campaign, he put up 54 points, including 24 goals. In 2010-11, he scored 29 goals and finished with 67 points. In the 2011-12 season Tavares scored 31 goals and 50 assists. In 2012-13, he scored 47 points, including 29 goals, and was nominated for the Hart Trophy for league MVP.
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