Nashville Predators Captain Fisher Sailing the Central
Nashville Predators Mike Fisher (12) Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
The Nashville Predators made a unique decision when choosing the Captain who is set to take them through the rough seas that is the Central Division.
The Nashville Predators appointed veteran center Mike Fisher as their team Captain this past week. The 36-year-old is a tremendously popular figure in and around Smashville, but that didn’t stop the move from leaving some folks outside the market scratching their head.
First and foremost, the role of Captain is meant to indicate leadership- a quality which is impossible to quantify in numbers and statistics. And the leaders of the Nashville Predators- GM David Poile, Head Coach Peter Laviolette, and even former Captain Shea Weber– have all given their thoughts that Fisher was the right choice to fill the position.
That being said- when one takes a peek at the Captains leading their teams around the league, it becomes clear that Fisher is a bit of an outlier. And since our Captain will be leading the Nashville Predators into the teeth of arguably the toughest division in the NHL, it seems fair to draw some comparisons to the other team leaders inside the Central Division.
Let’s take a look:
Colorado Avalanche Gabriel Landeskog (92) Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Captaincy Selection Age
Mike Fisher is, by a large margin, the oldest player to gain the role as Captain in the division. His 36 years is followed by the 30-year-old Blake Wheeler of the Winnepeg Jets, who also received his ‘C’ this offseason. The 2016-17 season will mark the first campaign as team leader for both skaters.
In opposite fashion, the Central Division features the youngest and third-youngest players ever to be selected as Captain in NHL history. Jonathan Toews was given the steering wheel to his team at 20, now marking the third-youngest captaincy ever. As we all know, he has led our loathed Chicago Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup Championships in his eight years serving.
The Colorado Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog was given the honor in 2012 as a 19-year-old, making him the youngest Captain in league history. But the age of nomination isn’t the only thing different about Fisher’s captaincy:
Minnesota Wild forward Mikko Koivu (9) Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Current Playing Age
The closest Captain to Fisher in playing age is Mikko Koivu of the Minnesota Wild at 33 years old. Koivu received his ‘C’ at 26 years of age, leading our cat-chested-rivals up north for the past seven seasons.
The current average age of the Central Division Captains (composed of Toews, Landeskog, Koivu, Wheeler, Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, and Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues) is 27.8 years. Fisher falls roughly eight years above this average, but added experience isn’t necessarily a bad thing in a team Captain.
Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Point Scoring
One of the qualities a franchise looks for in a Captain is the ability to step up their game on the ice in a hard situation, demonstrating leadership with their play. This may be where the head-scratching is rooted with the Fisher decision.
Outside of Nashville, the Central Division Captains averaged 61.8 points during the 2015-16 season. Across the league, the average for (current) Captains was 58 points. Fisher registered only a 23 point effort last year.
The next lowest in Central point scoring was Alex Pietrangelo of the Blues (also promoted to Captain this offseason), who pieced together a 37-point campaign- though he is the only defenseman of the seven Captains still in the division. While considering defensive Captains, Shea Weber marked 51 points from the blue line with our Nashville Predators last season.
While considering defensive Captains, Shea Weber marked 51 points from the blue line with our Nashville Predators last season.
St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (27) Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Plus/Minus
Fisher plays a solid two-way game, spending a good amount of time on the Nashville Predators penalty kill, but his -14 plus/minus is still something of a alarm. It ranked dead last for all Predator players, with rookie Viktor Arvidsson next in line at -8.
The rest of the Central leaders held an average +7 goal differential- over a 20 point gap from the new Preds Captain. The closest to Fisher was Gabriel Landeskog’s -5 rating on an Avalanche team which did not make the playoffs.
It is worth noting here just how good the Central Division is, though. Five teams, including the Nashville Predators, made the postseason (plus/minus amongst playoff team Captains was +9.7, those that missed the postseason, +3). And to ease some concern, Weber registered a -7 rating last season, and it didn’t stop the Nashville Predators from having the best postseason in franchise history.
Nashville Predators center Mike Fisher (12) Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
The Incalculables
Respect from your teammates can’t be calculated, and all of us can stare at stat sheets all day, but it doesn’t mean we know what’s going on inside a locker room.
Mike Fisher was chosen to lead this team- and it’s impossible to compare that to the leadership found in other franchises. With one year left on his contract, Fisher has the opportunity to grab a Stanley Cup with an incredibly talented roster around him, making any other kind of numbers irrelevant.
And besides, a run with Fisher as Captain may be the best thing for the Nashville Predators franchise. It could give him incentive to re-sign at a discounted rate in the offseason should he choose not to retire. It also gives the front office the chance to look over potential candidates for the Captain of the future, with Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, and more surely getting a good consideration.
Fisher is an incredibly popular figure in the Music City, and hopefully his leadership of a successful Nashville Predators season (and more importantly, post-season) will make him even more so.
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