Florida Panthers
This Florida Panthers Story Brought to You By the Letter ‘A’
SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers have three players who are designated to wear leadership letters on their jerseys: Captain Sasha Barkov, of course, gets the letter ‘C’, with Matthew Tkachuk and Aaron Ekblad serving as alternate captains.
The NHL rules state that, in each game, three players are designated as either captain or alternate captain in order to “have the privilege of discussing with the Referee any questions relating to interpretation of rules which may arise during the progress of a game.’’
This season, the Panthers have been without Barkov and Tkachuk due to injury leaving Ekblad as the only player on the team with a letter on the front of his jersey.
But Ekblad is not the only player designated as an alternate captain.
Since the start of the season, Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand have been designated with Ekblad by coach Paul Maurice as alternate captains — only they have not had the ‘A’ put on the front of their jerseys.
Why not?
Maurice says that informing officials which players are the alternate captains is enough.
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Although Maurice would not say so, there is a thought that with Tkachuk coming back soon, having to take a letter off someone’s jersey when he does return is attention no one wants.
The Panthers, by all accounts, are a very close-knit group.
No reason to stir things up when you don’t have to.
“We put them on the card when we submit our electronic roster,’’ Maurice said. “We don’t sew them on the sweaters. Everyone is different. I just don’t like it. …
“You open the door to making a guy feel good about himself because, ‘hey, I got an A.’ But the guy who doesn’t figures that he is seventh because three other guys got one when others are out. He’s going, ‘I can’t even get into the top seven here.’ And that might be a very important player for us.”
When Marchand missed a game last month against Anaheim, defenseman Gus Forsling was the third alternate.
Forsling again was an alternate captain on Saturday night when Ekblad was a late scratch after falling ill sometime between morning skate and the game against the Edmonton Oilers.
Ekblad is the only player on the Panthers right now with a physical letter sewn onto his jersey so, with him out, they had no one with letters.
Although that certainly seemed odd — the Oilers were represented by captain Connor McDavid and alternate captains Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl — it does not appear to have broken any NHL laws.
Before the game, the Panthers informed game officials that Marchand, Reinhart, and Forsling would handle the duties that come with being an alternate captain.
In looking through the official 2025-26 NHL rulebook, Rule 6.1 deals with captaincy and that whomever is designated captain “shall wear the letter “C,” approximately three inches (3”) in height and in contrasting color, in a conspicuous position on the front of his sweater.”
Rule 6.2 deals with alternate captains and uses the same language.
Rule 6.3 states that “when the Captain is not in uniform (or if there is no Captain), the Coach shall have the right to designate three Alternate Captains. This must be done prior to the start of the game.”
It does not say anything about those players having to have a letter sown on the front of their jersey.
“Shall wear the letter” seems to be the key phrase here, as more of a suggestion than a direct command.
Ekblad is expected to return to the lineup Monday night against the Nashville Predators, his letter ‘A’ visible to all.
“You just have to have them on the scoresheet,” Maurice said.
ON DECK: GAME No. 22
FLORIDA PANTHERS at NASHVILLE PREDATORS
- When: Monday, 8 p.m.
- Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/FTM)
- Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
- Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Season Series — At Nashville: Monday. At Florida: Dec. 4.
- Last Season: Panthers Won 2-0
- All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 24-15-6, 3 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Wednesday vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m.
This makes total sense to me. It is but one more example of how intentional and professional this franchise has become. Previous leadership (cough Yormark cough) would have put out a sponsored fan poll to chose the temporary alternate captains.
SOOO true