Rangers' Captain Dilemma

In recent days, the New York Rangers have been kicking around the idea of naming a captain.  This comes up because the previous captain, Chris Drury, was bought out over the Summer.  The names being mentioned?  Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal, and Brad Richards.  Each player has a claim to that role, with Callahan being a leader of sorts when Drury was out with an injury, Staal being the most important player on the blue line, and Richards being the big name acquisition.  All three were alternate captains last year, with Callahan and Staal being alternate captains with the Rangers and Richards being alternate captain while in Dallas.  So, with that in mind, I will make a case for Brad Richards to be named captain of the Rangers, for argument's sake.

The captain of your team can sometimes be your best offensive player.  How else you do you explain the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Eric Staal, and Henrik Sedin being captains as of the end of last season?  You can even go as far back as the Oilers' glory days, and Wayne Gretzky being captain ahead of possibly the greatest captain in the last generation Mark Messier.  Why Richards?  He instantly becomes the best offensive player on the team, assuming Marian Gaborik can't stay healthy for a full season, and he has what few of the Rangers have: a Stanley Cup ring.  That experience under the bright lights of a playoff run should serve him well under the bright lights of Broadway.  While Callahan and Marc Staal can make the case for captaincy, you also have to remember that both are still relatively young.  I know what you're about to say, and yes, Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, and Ovechkin are young guys, but neither Callahan nor Staal are the offensive engines that the trio are, and certainly, the best they have is Richards.  Richards can lead by example on the ice just by providing offense for a team that desperately needs it.

If you would like to make a case for either Callahan or Staal as captain, feel free to make your case in the comments section.