Next Retired Numbers (Hockey, Part I)

After doing baseball and football, I took a little break from the retired number series.  I always intended to go back to it.  After all, I still have two of the four major leagues left.  And, with both of those leagues set to start their respective Finals next week, I figured now is as good a time as any to jump back in.

We'll start with hockey, more specifically, the Eastern Conference.  And, just to go over the rules, players can still be active, as long as they've already done enough to warrant it.  If a team already has the number retirement planned, then I move on to the next player in line.  Also, it's only one player per team.  Pittsburgh, for example, will almost certainly retire both Crosby's 87 and Malkin's 71 (and probably Letang's 58, too), so it's which of those should be retired first.  With that, here we go...

Bruins: 33 Zdeno Chara-Don't be surprised if the Bruins end up retiring a bunch of numbers from their recent Cup teams.  Pastrnak, Bergeron and Marchand seem like virtual certainties, and I wouldn't be surprised if 2 U, 2 K, Tuukka has his number retired, as well.  But, Rask is the only one of those four who's retired.  So is Zdeno Chara, who also seems like he'd be a lock.  The future Hall of Famer gets the nod.

Sabres: 25 Dave Andreychuk-It's been a while since the Sabres were good (more than a while, in fact), so there definitely isn't anybody recent who you'd consider.  Why not go all the way back to a Hall of Famer who spent the first 11 seasons of his career in Buffalo, then?  Andreychuk's already a member of the Sabres Hall of Fame, but he deserves more than that.  His number 25 should also hang from the rafters.

Hurricanes: 20 Sebastian Aho-Carolina's best player for a while now, he's already made his way up several of the franchise's all-time lists.  And he's signed thru 2031-32, so you've gotta think he'll move past franchise icon Eric Staal and sit behind only the legendary Ron Francis before all is said and done.  If they ever actually win multiple Eastern Conference Final games while Aho's still around, that will cement his place in Hurricanes history even more.

Blue Jackets: 13 Johnny Gaudreau-Gaudreau is most remembered for his time with the Flames, and his Blue Jackets career was tragically cut short.  But he definitely left an impact in Columbus (and with USA Hockey), which was felt all season.  It would be more of a touching gesture than anything else, but it's a gesture I don't think many people would have a problem with.

Red Wings: 24 Chris Chelios-Chelios had his number retired in Chicago last season, but you could make an argument that it should be retired in Detroit, as well.  He played 11 years with the Red Wings and won two Stanley Cups with them.  And he's in the Hall of Fame, which seems to be a requirement for the franchise.  All of the players who've had their number retired by the Red Wings are in the Hall of Fame (although, Detroit also has several unofficial "honored" numbers, and not all of those players are in the Hall of Fame).

Panthers: 16 Aleksander Barkov-There are plenty of options from this current dynasty team the Panthers have going.  Their captain, Sasha Barkov, isn't just the leader of that team, he's been there the longest.  He'll be the first non-goalie ever to have his number retired by the Panthers.

Canadiens: 11 Saku Koivu-Montreal has 18 retired numbers.  All 18 of those players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.  But, the Canadiens haven't won the Cup in more than 30 years, so I had to go with a non-Hall of Famer (even though that might be disqualifying).  Saku Koivu was their first European captain and is their longest-tenured captain.  He's also a cancer survivor and was forced to miss most of the 2001-02 season after being diagnosed before playing every game in 2002-03.

Devils: 22 Claude Lemieux-Every Devil who's had his number retired played during the same era--when they were really good and won three Stanley Cups from 1995-2003.  There's one guy from that group who's missing, though.  Claude Lemieux.  The argument against is that he wasn't a Devil long enough.  I'm not arguing that he should be mentioned in the same breath as Martin Brodeur and Scott Stevens or even Ken Daneyko and Patrick Elias.  He was pretty great during his five seasons with the team, though, and won the Conn Smythe in 1995.

Islanders: 16 Pat LaFontaine-Much like the Devils, every number the Islanders have retired is from their dynasty teams.  Unlike the Devils, the Islanders don't have any deserving players from that era left who haven't already had their number retired.  So, instead, I'm going with Pat LaFontaine, who joined the Islanders after playing for the United States at the 1984 Olympics and became a fan favorite while playing the first eight years of his Hall of Fame career with them.

Rangers: 5 Bill Cook-While I recognize this is completely unlikely, I've long been an advocate of Bill Cook having his number retired by the Rangers.  All of the great players from the 60s & 70s have had their numbers retired.  So have the four key guys from the 1994 team and Henrik Lundqvist.  This season is the Rangers' centennial, and I think it would be great if they honored their first star and first captain by raising his number to the Garden rafters, as well.

Senators: 19 Jason Spezza-Franchise icon Daniel Alfredsson is the Senators' all-time leader in everything.  In most of those categories, Jason Spezza is second.  He spent the majority of his 19-year career in Ottawa, served as their captain, and led them to the only Stanley Cup Final appearance in franchise history.  Brady Tkachuk could certainly make a case eventually, but right now, Spezza is most deserving of having the Senators' next retired number.

Flyers: 31 Pelle Lindbergh-I'm cheating a little bit here.  I admit it.  Lindberg's number has been held out of circulation since his 1985 death, but was never officially retired.  Why not?  Let's make it official.

Penguins: 87 Sidney Crosby-If you had to decide between the three (Crosby, Malkin, Letang), Crosby would have to be the choice.  He's the guy they drafted No. 1 overall to resurrect the franchise, and all he's done is lead them to multiple Stanley Cups as the team captain.  Crosby's just as good now as he was 20 years ago, and probably the second-most important player in Penguins history behind only Mario Lemieux.

Lightning: 91 Steven Stamkos-Currently, Tampa Bay only has two retired numbers: Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier, the two key players on their 2004 Stanley Cup team.  They'll soon have company.  From multiple players who've played for the Lightning over the last decade, when they've consistently been one of the best teams in the NHL.  Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Nikita Kucherov all seem like locks.  But they'll all still be playing after Steven Stamkos retires, so Stamkos gets the nod as to who'll have his number retired first.

Maple Leafs: 34 Auston Matthews-As part of their centennial celebration in 2016, the Maple Leafs retired a whole bunch of numbers.  So, anybody in Leafs history you'd think deserves to have his number retired probably already has.  Which leaves us with the current roster.  Matthews is already one of the best players in franchise history.  If he can finally lead Toronto to its first Cup since 1967, he'll become a franchise icon.

Capitals: 8 Alex Ovechkin-This is the most obvious selection of all.  The second Ovechkin announces his retirement, the Capitals will pick the day for his number retirement.  He isn't just the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer, he's the best and most significant player in franchise history.  Alex Ovechkin is that important to the Washington Capitals.