The Edmonton Oilers have announced that the team will not have one captain this year, but instead four alternates.
Andrew Ference has been the team’s captain for the past two seasons. He will now be one of four alternates along with Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Ference said he had discussion with general manager Peter Chiarelli and head coach Todd McLellan over the summer and they all agreed that alternate captains was the best course of action.
“We have some tremendous talent and guys that are game changers and guys developing as people that are going to be fabulous leaders moving forward,” said Ference.
"(I have) tons of respect for him,” said McLellan. “He's handing the torch off to a group and I know he'll be there mentoring them.”
McLellan said that Matt Hendricks will also wear an “A”, while Eberle is injured.
The Oilers are following the lead of the Montreal Canadiens, who had four alternates last year before Max Pacioretty was named captain this season.
With files from CTV's Dan Grummett
