After a season without a captain, the Winnipeg Jets have named their new leader.
Centre Adam Lowry, who is about to enter his 10th season as a Jet, was given the honour Tuesday.
Lowry, 30, becomes the third captain in Jets 2.0 history, following in the footsteps of Andrew Ladd, who announced his retirement from hockey on Sunday, and Blake Wheeler.
For the 2022-23 season, new head coach Rick Bowness opted for no player to wear the “C,” going instead with three alternate captains: Lowry, Josh Morrissey, and Mark Scheifele.
The team said Morrissey and Scheifele will each continue to wear an “A” for 2023-24.
Lowry, who has 621 NHL games — all with the Jets — under his belt, will have plenty of resources to lean on as he takes on the new role. His father, Dave, has experience leading a Canadian team as captain of the Calgary Flames near the end of his own playing career.
“To have my father having gone through that experience of having been a captain in a Canadian market and not necessarily be the superstar that’s leading the team … it’s more of a third- and fourth-line guy and you can still find value, lead a team, you can still bring a team together,” said Lowry in a statement from the team Tuesday.
Lowry said he also intends to reach out to former Jets teammates with experience wearing the “C,” including an ex-Jet who is now captain in the Big Apple alongside Blake Wheeler.
“I’m going to give Jacob (Trouba) a call and learn from him. He’s captain of the Rangers and that’s a pretty big hockey market that he has to navigate. He’s done a tremendous job. There’s a lot of people that I’ll be able to reach out to for advice.”
Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said the team has been able to watch Lowry’s career develop since the very beginning. After all, he was the second player (after Scheifele) ever drafted by the team back in 2011.
“As a teammate, Adam has become one of the most respected players by his peers by how he plays the game on the ice and for all that he brings to the team off of it,” Cheveldayoff said.
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