After four seasons with a "C" on his sweater, Joe Thornton will enter training camp as one of several potential candidates to fill the now-vacant captain's role with the San Jose Sharks.
Head coach Todd McLellan is confident the players will make a firm decision on who will take up the mantle, and didn't rule out the possibility of Thornton being called upon once again, as unlikely as that seems.
“[The players] will sort it out. They’ll show us. They’ll tell us. Their actions will speak volumes,” McLellan conveyed via CSN Bay Area. ""If it’s real evident that [Thornton] is the guy, he’ll be the captain. If there’s somebody else that assumes that role and is prepared to take it on and is doing a very good job, then they will be."
The most plausible scenario seems to be the passing of the torch to one of Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture or Marc-Edouard Vlasic, all of whom are under contract for several more seasons and younger than Thornton and his predecessor, Patrick Marleau.