Nashville Predators choose veteran voice at captain with Mike Fisher

The Nashville Predators opted for a veteran voice to replace Shea Weber as team captain.

The team announced it had picked forward Mike Fisher to wear the ‘C’ this upcoming season as the organization’s seventh captain in its history. This is the first time in Fisher’s career he has worn a captain’s ‘C’ for an NHL team. He had been a Predators alternate since the 2011-12 season.

The Predators traded for Fisher during the 2010-11 season from the Ottawa Senators and he helped the team make the second-round of the playoffs for the first time in franchise history that season. Since the trade, Nashville has made the playoffs in all but two years with Fisher in the organization, making the second-round three times. Fisher has played a total of 341 games for Nashville and notched 195 points.

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“I’ve had two captains in my hockey career. One is Daniel Alfredsson (in Ottawa) and the other is Shea Weber and those to individuals really represent what a hockey player is supposed to be about and I learned from those two guys,” Fisher said. “They’re incredible people and family guys who worked as hard as anyone that represented the team and the city really well. I played with so many other people too in my career that I’ve learned from that has helped me in my career and help me in the future.”

The decision to go with Fisher as the team’s captain is probably the most logical choice for the Predators for the 2016-17 season. The team has a bevy of young talent and Fisher has played 1,016 NHL games – the most of any player on the team. At age 36 he’s still an effective player and had seven points in 14 playoff games for Nashville in 2016, including a triple-overtime goal against the San Jose Sharks in Game 4 of their second-round series.

“The captain of the team has a major impact on the team and its direction. He serves as the voice of the dressing room and is the one player that can represent the entire team. No one on our roster can do that better than Mike Fisher,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “Mike is a model citizen and well respected by everyone and one of the best pros I’ve ever seen or worked with. He sets a positive example for not only all of our players but for everyone in our organization on and off the ice.”

Star defenseman Roman Josi could have been another option, but last year was his first wearing a letter with the organization. Also, this season could give the 26-year-old Josi more of a chance to grow as a locker room voice and learn under Fisher before he potentially takes over after Fisher retires.

Josi has four years remaining on a seven-year, $28 million contract while Fisher is in the final season of a two-year $8.8 million deal.

“Mike can play here as long as he wants. I don’t view this as a one-year captaincy, but we’ll take what we can get from Mike on and off the ice,” general manager David Poile said.

Fisher’s teammates approved of the decision.

“After the trade, all of a sudden you wonder who is going to be captain and my first thought was Mike. He’s an amazing human being,” forward Colin Wilson said. “You hear of his contributions outside of hockey, but inside of the dressing room, he’s great with everybody. He’s a great teammate, always thinking about the team.”

The Predators’ web story about the naming of Fisher did not mention defenseman P.K. Subban, the superstar blueliner Nashville acquired for Weber, in a reference to the team’s “leadership core.” In the news conference, Poile mentioned Subban – who wore the ‘A’ the last two seasons for the Canadiens – as a “leader” the team traded for.

Last season the Canadiens picked Max Pacioretty as captain over Subban and this led to some questions about the decision since Subban was one of the most popular Habs players amongst fans and one of the most charitable players in the NHL.

Weber has already been named an alternate captain with the Canadiens.

But Subban is new in Nashville and it’s unclear how the team will lean on him in the dressing room.

“We shared conversations, David and I – once the captaincy was void, we needed to replace that position and everything always seemed to turn to Mike. We’ve had other great conversations about leaders in the room,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’ve said – and you heard us say over the course of the past couple of years that we have a tremendous leadership group and that stands in place. There’s just been a changing of the guard here and through conversations with David and I, it led to a conversation with Mike and myself and David and Mike and just putting it together through the course of the summer.”

Since his trade to the Predators, Fisher’s status as a regular in the Nashville community has grown. He has thrown himself into local charity work and won the NHL’s Foundation Player Award in 2012.

“I think for me it’s so important for guys to get involved in something that’s much greater than themselves and it gives them a sense of purpose,” Fisher said.

He’s also married to country music star Carrie Underwood and has never expressed a desire to leave the city or the organization since he joined the group.

“One word from me for this year would be excitement,” Fisher said. “I look at our group of guys of young people and young men and young talent and our fan base and how excited or city is and a great organization and I believe we can win the Stanley Cup here in this city.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper