Winnipeg Jets go without captain for upcoming NHL season

The Winnipeg Jets have taken the C off Blake Wheeler's jersey and tucked it away, choosing to hand out a whole bunch of As instead.

The NHL team has decided to go captain-less, announcing a restructuring of its leadership ahead of the 2022-23 season.

It's the first time in the franchise history of the NHL team, which began play in the 1999-2000 season as the Atlanta Thrashers before relocating to become the Jets for the 2011-12 season, that it will not have a designated leader.

"It is the determination of the coaching staff that we will enter the 2022-23 season without a specific captain, but rather a group of assistants still to be determined," new head coach Rick Bowness said in a news release on Friday morning.

"It is our goal to expand the leadership base within our hockey team. We have high expectations for our core players and we want to provide them with the opportunity to step into those greater leadership roles as a group."

Bowness and Wheeler will be holding a news conference at noon to talk about the changes.

Wheeler, 36, was named the team's second-ever captain on his 30th birthday, Aug. 31, 2016.

He replaced Andrew Ladd, who was named the Thrashers' captain in 2010 and retained the title when the team moved to Winnipeg.