It's official. Garrett Wilson was named the captain of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, it was announced on Thursday.
Wilson, 27, is entering his third season with the Penguins. He's been an alternate captain for the Penguins the past two seasons, and was an alternate captain for the San Antonio Rampage and Portland Pirates prior to joining the Penguins.
Wilson succeeds Tom Kostopoulos as captain. Kostopoulos, who retired after last season and is now a player development coach for the parent club, was captain from 2002-04, and again from 2013-18. Wilson knows he has some pretty big shoes to fill.
“It’s a huge honor,” Wilson said in a team release. “Filling the void after [Tom Kostopoulos], it’s going to be a big job. I’m just going to do whatever I can to help this team. If my teammates need anything, I’ll be here to help them and support them.”
“Not one person can replace that guy," Wilson told me of Kostopoulos during training camp. "His leadership, his professionalism that he brought every day to the rink, it’s going to be team effort, a leadership group to try to come together and fill his void.”
Defenseman Chris Summers was named the Penguins’ alternate captain, and the third alternate captain’s “A” will be rotated throughout the season.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON CAPTAINCY HISTORY
- John Slaney, Stephen Leach & Tyler Wright, 1999–2000
- Sven Butenschon & John Slaney, 2000–2001
- Jason MacDonald, 2001–2002
- Tom Kostopoulos, 2002–2003
- Patrick Boileau, Kris Beech & Tom Kostopoulos, 2003–2004
- Rob Scuderi, 2004–2005
- Alain Nasreddine, 2004–2006
- Micki DuPont, 2006–2007
- Nathan Smith, 2007–2008
- David Gove, 2008–2009
- Wyatt Smith, 2009–2010
- Ryan Craig, 2010–2012
- Joey Mormina, 2012–2013
- Tom Kostopoulos, 2013–2018
- Garrett Wilson, 2018-