Red Wings announce leadership group for this season

The day before the 2018-19 regular season begins for the Red Wings, they announced who will be leading them and wearing a letter on their chest for this team.

Dylan Larkin and Frans Nielsen are the new faces when it comes to the leadership group of the Red Wings.

Larkin, the 22-year-old center, will be wearing a letter for the first time in his professional career. While Nielsen has been part of the captaincy group for the New York Islanders, serving as an alternate captain for four years with that club.

Nielsen is going into his third season with the Red Wings, having signed as a free agent in the 2016 offseason. Larkin will be suiting up for his fourth season as a Red Wing and will hopefully be here for many more years to come.

Returning to the leadership group is aging Red Wings legend Niklas Kronwall and Michigan-native Justin Abdelkader. This will be Kronwall’s eighth season wearing the “A”, serving under Niklas Lidstrom for the majority of his leadership career.

Abdelkader is coming into his third full season as one of the alternate captains for this club.

With Zetterberg’s departure, this is a sensitive subject. He will still be viewed as the captain of this team to many, therefore it makes sense that the Red Wings will go with four alternate captains instead of labeling one player as captain, just a short month after Zetterberg announced his retirement.

Larkin’s first game wearing the “A” will be tomorrow night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, at home. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.

Let this new and exciting season begin!