<p>Blake Wheeler will not serve as team captain of the Winnipeg Jets to start the 2022–23 season.</p>



<p>On Friday, the Jets released a statement from new head coach Rick Bowness announcing a “leadership group restructuring.”</p>



<p>Instead of Wheeler wearing the “C” — as he had done since 2016 — the Jets will deploy a group of assistant captains to begin the year.</p>



<p>“It is the determination of the coaching staff that we will enter the 2022–23 season without a specific captain, but rather a group of assistants still to be determined,” Bowness said Friday. “It is our goal to expand the leadership base within our hockey team.</p>



<p>“We have high expectations for our core players and we want to provide them with the opportunity to step into those greater leadership roles as a group.”</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="134"></div>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/VF7Uwrtefg">pic.twitter.com/VF7Uwrtefg</a></p>— Winnipeg Jets PR (@WpgJetsPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/WpgJetsPR/status/1570790918235787265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2022</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele served as assistant captains under Wheeler during the 2021–22 season, in which the Jets finished 11th in the Western Conference with a 39–32–11 record.</p>



<p>Wheeler, 36, has two years remaining on his contract, which carries an $8.25 million cap hit. The 6’5″ winger scored 17 goals and 60 points in 65 games with the Jets last season.</p>



<p>During Wheeler’s tenure as captain, the Jets advanced to the playoffs three times (plus a berth in the qualifying round in 2020) and advanced past the first round in 2018 and 2021.</p>



<p>Wheeler is the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise’s all-time leader in assists and points. The Jets have only had two captains since relocating from Atlanta in 2011: Andrew Ladd (2011 to 2016) and Wheeler (2016 to 2022).</p>



<p>Scheifele and Wheeler are the only two remaining players who played with the Jets in 2011–12, their first season back in Winnipeg.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="152"></div>
