Babcock in no rush to name new Leafs captain: 'No plan, no timeline'
The Toronto Maple Leafs will get their first look at the man who wore the "C" for six season with the club Saturday night.
Dion Phaneuf and the Ottawa Senators will renew the Battle of Ontario on Saturday as Phaneuf takes to the ice at the Air Canada Centre for the first time since being traded to the Senators nearly a month ago.
Some of the #sens players are booing Dion Phaneuf when he touches the puck during morning skate at ACC. Hilarious.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 5, 2016
Love him or hate him, Phaneuf executed his captainly duties with class during his tenor, and it's for that reason head coach Mike Babcock is currently without a plan on naming Phaneuf's successor.
"No plan. No timeline," said Babcock. "Right now I don't even want to think about it. We purposely haven't got any of our kids, even though we demand some of our kids lead. We expect (Nazem) Kadri to lead, we expect (Morgan) Rielly to lead, we've given our assistant captains to our veterans who are doing it right every day, and when someone is ready they'll get the opportunity.
"This is the first time I've talked about it. I haven't to Lou (Lamoriello) about it one time, I haven't talked to Shanny about it, but I'm pretty sure you'd get the same thing from them."
Phaneuf held the captaincy from 2010 until his departure last month. Prior to that, the team went two seasons without a captain after franchise-great Mats Sundin departed from the organization.
Phaneuf: "I said it when I was named captain & I'll say it for the rest of my life, it was an honour to be the captain of the Maple Leafs."
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 5, 2016
Though there remains no immediate plans for a replacement, Babcock did give some insight into his personal timeline.
"I think in the end when it becomes obvious to us who the next captain is, that's when it'll be," said Babcock.