The St. Louis Blues introduced the 25th captain in their franchise's history a few weeks ago, and that player is Robert Thomas. It was a slam-dunk decision so far, and with it comes a chance at making history.
This franchise has a long-standing history of fantastic captains, but funny enough, most of them only lasted for a few seasons. Brian Sutter is the current leader, having served as the Blues' captain for nine seasons.
Thomas is now in a great position to beat the record, and then some. Let's talk about it.
Perfect age to break it
Thomas is 27 years old and is entering his ninth season with the Blues. To break Sutter's record of nine seasons, that means he would have to remain captain from now until he is 36 years old, and that would be the end of the 2034-35 season.
It is amazing to think that great captains like Alex Pietrangelo, David Backes, and Brett Hull were only here for a couple of seasons. It was nowhere near the amount of time that Sutter was the head man on the ice.
Looking around the NHL, there has been a shift in captaincy in alot of teams, but there are still some that have longer-tenured players as the captains. Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin stand out like sore thumbs, but even Gabriel Landeskog of Colorado is in his 14th season as captain.
Perfect player to break it
Thomas is also the perfect player to break Sutter's record, as he will likely break his individual records as well. Sutter has the third-most points in franchise history with 636 points. No. 18 is currently at 460 points, and his prime is right ahead of him.
It should come as no surprise that, after eight seasons with the Blues already under his belt, he would be the one to be selected as the captain. Colton Parayko is another name that was surely mentioned in this conversation, but Thomas brings another level of consistency that this team needs to desperately replicate.
Thomas is more than capable of consistently playing at a high level over the next decade. He will be the main catalyst for the next era of Blues hockey, which will soon be an open championship window, depending on the outcome of this season.
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