Tom Polakis
Next expansion
Well, the Martinook - Richardson - Cousins line plays plenty of minutes in comparison to some other lines you could pick a C/A from. Of course, I'm one of those that thinks ice-time is a better reference point than "popularity" for a leader; after all, aren't they supposed to be the only ones who chat with refs?
Doan was nowhere near one of our "best" players for several seasons, but he had the C. Yes, it was long standing, but I can't remember if he was one of our "best" when given the C.
On this team, we have no real "best" players, just sticky ones Also, Cousins has the 4th best shooting percentage on the team. I don't necessarily think Cousins should be an A, but if he continues to perform well and gets plenty of ice-time, it's not unheard of.
Doan was pretty clearly the team's best player after the departure of Teppo Numminen in 2003. He went on to lead the team in points for the next seven seasons.