brock is thought of as basically one of the best captains ever of the gophers and is being raised by spurgey and moose to be the eventual captain of the wild and the entire fanbase and media is waiting excitedly for that day, basically the king in waiting. he’s considered a natural leader, media loves to talk to him and he always makes himself available, a pretty much perfect representative for the fans, always involved with them and the community, is home grown. he is extremely hard on himself (as guerin says, he beats the shit out of himself and no one is harder on himself. Guerin infamously a hardass knows brock is too hard on himself and makes it clear in the press the organization loves and adores him). he wants all the responsibility, wants to represent his team and take the hard stuff.

quinn had to captain a dysfunctional locker room on a team that was doomed by poor ownership and management in a market that is brutal to its stars. with a personality that is probably not the best for a captaincy despite the fact that he tried so hard to make himself into that guy for the team and the city it just wasn’t gonna work. he took up the mantle and wanted it to work but it wasn’t ever going to. he knew that he was basically the only hope for the entire team for years. to the point where he was often trying to win games entirely by himself.

just wonder what quinn thinks about the whole thing. he clearly is happy to not be captain (i think), doesn’t want any responsibility except on the ice (i think) but i wonder if he knew what the locker room succession was before coming into the room. it’s really well known in minnesota, everyone knows it’s going to be brock and they’ve been preparing for it. and obviously quinn knows now what the deal is but has he talked to brock about being a captain? about his own experiences, about the expectations or pressure? about being there for brock if he needs him, with his experience and with his voice in the room.

brock is very obviously minnesota's next captain, and while their dynamic might be impacted  they're gonna be fine. they both really respect each other so i doubt there will be any problems they can’t work out. also, I personally think making the captain someone who isn't necessarily the "better" player but is the best leader can be super beneficial. and I'm not saying brock isn't absolutely amazing, it's just that quinn is generally the better of the two and is known as one of the best in the league.

this format of leadership makes it so that one person isn't stuck with all the pressure and responsibility. being captain and also the most important player is a lot so unless your star player is a particularly amazing leader (ex: sidney crosby) it really doesn't make sense to give them the c over someone who is clearly a better fit for a leadership role. this works across sports too, like odegaard (the better leader) captaining norway’s football team while haaland is clearly their superstar player vs. messi who is both a great leader and argentina’s best player. another example could be landy captaining the avs despite nate and cale being their big super talents.

I do think it's likely they'll talk about captaincy though, and quinn will probably share his own experience and perspective with brock. while I wouldn’t consider quinn one of the best captains (and i’m saying this as a huge quinn hughes fan) i do think he’s underrated as a leader due to the situation in van and how he can be quiet sometimes. I don’t believe he necessarily wants a huge leadership role based on a lot of stuff but he’ll definitely be a leader/supporter in other ways whether it’s as brock’s alternate or just as an experienced player.

I can’t be the only person who would also spend all my free time, out of training, with my family and childhood/college friends I barely see during the season cause of schedule if I were in their position 😬 and just cause they aren’t in the same place, doesn’t mean they are texting or calling… which they have been known to do when apart 💀

Also, are we forgetting Willmack hung out in Boston (and other Gabe) when they didn’t have to since Mack was clearly seeing his brother and BU friends before he went to worlds💀