Edmonton Oilers’ leadership conundrum with Ference, Hall

The power dynamics within the Edmonton Oilers could be downright fascinating.

When’s the last time we’ve seen a team with a core leadership group that hasn’t led them anywhere, a veteran captain who may end up being a healthy scratch and a rookie who might earn the captaincy within three years if the hype’s correct?

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So we’re all up to speed: Defenseman Andrew Ference was named Oilers captain in 2013 after Shawn Horcoff shuffled off to the Dallas Stars. He was 34 years old, bringing a ring and three Stanley Cup Final appearances to a dressing room that couldn’t locate the playoffs if given a GPS and Sherpa.

Taylor Hall was 21 when Ference was given the captaincy, even though there was strong support to give him the honor despite his inexperience. But it was Dallas Eakins’ call, and the call was a veteran backliner instead of a star winger.

Said Hall to the Edmonton Sun:

“I thought about it, I heard some rumours and that kind of thing. It’s Dallas’s choice,” Hall said. “Andrew came in here and displayed a lot of things that we need in this room. He’s a good guy and I think I might have been a little too young for the role. I’m very comfortable of where I am now in my career, how I play and how I am in the room. I’m fine without the ‘C’ on my shoulder." 

… “For now, I’m completely fine with not having that. A guy like Andrew that’s married, it’s good for the team, it’s good for the community, it’s good for the spouses and that kind of thing. I’m completely fine with the role that I have.”

Since then, the Oilers have shuffled through two (or three) coaches to bring in former San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan, and Ference had a discussion with him immediately to talk about the captaincy and its future. As he told the Edmonton Journal:

“The way I look at it is, who would be the same person with or without it?" Ference, 36, said. "It shouldn't change who you are as a person. Some guys who have the captaincy can elevate their role and how they feel, but how they act and who they are? That shouldn't change. Doing the day-in, day-out leadership stuff should be the same with or without it. That's the sign somebody's ready for the captaincy."

McLellan has said that Ference is the Oilers’ captain “right now” and reiterated that anyone ascending to the captaincy is going to have to show him they’re worthy:

"I haven't experienced a lot of the individuals, the way they carry themselves, the way they react in certain situations. Are they verbal leaders? Are they physical leaders? Are they both? How do they react in successful situations? How do they react to failure? How do they interact with their teammates? I can't answer any of those questions as a coach right now."

So who should take the Oilers captaincy?

Logic would dictate it’s Hall. He and Jordan Eberle were alternate captains during that crap-burger of a season for Edmonton. (I know … “which one?”)

I’ve long been a fan of the torch-passing from veteran grunts acting as stop-gaps to young stars as a way to signal a new phase for a franchise: Ovechkin getting the captaincy from Chris Clark, Toews getting the ‘C’ from Martin Lapointe and so on. It’s clear the Oilers are inching toward contention, assuming them don’t make a Herculean leap with Connor McDavid at center.

And that’s the other intriguing part of this: McDavid is pegging to be a star of greater magnitude than Hall, Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or any of the team’s other young guns. Stardom doesn’t always equate to leadership, but McDavid was a captain with the Erie Otters and the makeup of this kid seems to point to him being a natural leader.

Honestly, this is why I give the ‘C’ to Hall this season. Establish him as the captain. Let him take the leadership role and run with it. Because if maturity is an issue for Hall – and, frankly it is, or else Ference wouldn’t be the captain – giving him that responsibility forces him to mature. So does rooming him with McDavid – it’s going to be on Hall to show him the NHL ropes and to do something that’ll no doubt be difficult for him, which is protect him from the toxic direness that’s been the Oilers B.C. (Before Connor).

So I’d move to the ‘C’ to Hall. But I’m not the coach. Todd McLellan is the coach, and the last time he was faced with a question about the captaincy, he basically gave everyone an ‘A’ and called it a day. So it’s possible Ference, Hall, Eberle, McDavid and the rest of the Oilers get to be captains this season.

Well, except for you, Nail. If you can’t take care of Connor you can’t get a ‘C’.

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