# The 16 Greatest NHL Captains of All Time

> Some wore the C for one dynasty, some carried a franchise for two decades, and one of them guaranteed a win and then delivered it. Vote for the captain you would want on the ice with a series slipping away.

*By YPB Team · Published August 21, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-16-greatest-nhl-captains-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Mark Messier** — score 1000/1000
   Captained both the Oilers and the Rangers to Stanley Cups, and guaranteed one of them.
2. **Jean Beliveau** — score 682/1000
   Led Montreal to five Cups as captain, and to ten in all as a player.
3. **Scott Stevens** — score 568/1000
   New Jersey's captain through three Cups and the hardest shoulder of his era.
4. **Mario Lemieux** — score 515/1000
   Captained Pittsburgh to back-to-back Cups, then came back and captained the team he owned.
5. **Jonathan Toews** — score 515/1000
   Nicknamed Captain Serious, he had three Cups before turning 27.
6. **Zdeno Chara** — score 515/1000
   At 6-foot-9 the tallest captain in league history, and a champion in 2011.
7. **Sidney Crosby** — score 515/1000
   Took the Pittsburgh C at 19 and has won three Cups wearing it.
8. **Joe Sakic** — score 384/1000
   Captained Colorado for 17 years, two Cups, and one famous refusal to touch the conference trophy.
9. **Wayne Gretzky** — score 303/1000
   Wore the Edmonton C through three of the Oilers' four Cup wins in the 1980s.
10. **Maurice Richard** — score 303/1000
   Montreal's captain for four straight Cups at the end of a combustible career.
11. **Bobby Clarke** — score 303/1000
   Captained the Broad Street Bullies to the only two Cups in Flyers history.
12. **Nicklas Lidstrom** — score 303/1000
   The first European captain to win the Stanley Cup, in Detroit in 2008.
13. **Steve Yzerman** — score 206/1000
   Captained Detroit for 19 seasons and turned a scoring team into a three-time champion.
14. **Alex Ovechkin** — score 206/1000
   Washington's captain since 2010 and the man who ended a 44-year wait for the Cup.
15. **Denis Potvin** — score 206/1000
   Wore the C for all four New York Islanders championships.
16. **Ray Bourque** — score 91/1000
   Boston's captain for 15 seasons, who finally lifted the Cup in Colorado.

Tags: sports, hockey, players, legends, all-time