I’m not sure the NHL has a weirder annual award than the Mark Messier Leadership Award for “the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice during the regular season.”
It’s not quite a slam dunk, because the Lady Byng exists. But at least that award has been around for a century and is voted on by a pool of writers who’ll always get it right because democracy never fails. The Mark Messier is a relatively new award that, as far as anyone can tell, just goes to whoever Mark Messier himself deems worthy. What’s the criteria? Nobody really knows. Leadership, apparently.
The award started in 2006 as a monthly honor, before quickly being retconned into a more traditional annual award. That version has been handed out 18 times, with no repeat winners, because it’s just really hard to be a good leader more than once in your career. And while some of those winners are guys with reputations as legitimately great leaders like Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron and Jonathan Toews, other winners haven’t held up quite as well. We got a reminder of that this week when the reigning Messier winner was traded after the team that had been trying to dump him for months threatened to waive him. You know, typical leader stuff.
So today, let’s look back at that list of 18 winners and remember eight times the award didn’t turn out to be a great omen for the future.
8. Mark Giordano, Flames, 2020
The player: One year after winning his first (and only) Norris Trophy at the age of 35, Giordano added to his hardware collection with the even more prestigious Messier.
The ‘leadery’ leadership: Giordano had been Flames captain for seven years, having taken over from fellow Messier winner Jarome Iginla.
Was it a weird pick at the time? Not really.
But then: One year after being honored for his irreplaceable leadership, Giordano was left unprotected in the expansion draft and claimed by the Seattle Kraken. Granted, a big chunk of the reason behind the move had to do with cap space. But it was still jarring to see a team lose its longtime captain to an expansion team in its own division.
For what it’s worth, Giordano was immediately named captain in Seattle, joining the distinguished multi-time captain club. That lasted for 55 games before he was traded to Toronto, where he was not named captain, presumably because he’d realized that being a leader is a bad career move.
The player: Simmonds was 29 and on his second team, playing the role of a hard-nosed middle-six mainstay in Philadelphia.
The ‘leadery’ leadership: Simmonds had come over to the Flyers in the controversial Mike Richards deal back in 2011, and had developed into a traditional power forward who could score, hit and fight. He’d worn an “A” in Philadelphia since 2014-15.
Was it a weird pick at the time? I love Simmonds and pretty much always have, but this was the point where some of us started to wonder if Messier was already running out of candidates for his award.
But then: Simmonds’ leadership was so crucially important to the Flyers that they traded him to the Predators at the deadline, making him the only player in the award’s history to win it while playing for multiple teams. Then the Predators let him walk in free agency, where he signed with Buffalo. Then the Sabres traded him to the Devils a few months later, making him one of the few players in NHL history to play for four different teams in one calendar year.
Simmonds would ultimately play 15 seasons for a total of six teams, and as best I can tell he’s one of only two Messier winners to have never been a captain in the NHL.
6. Dustin Brown, Kings, 2014
The player: Brown was 29, in his 10th season in L.A., and his sixth as captain.
The ‘leadery’ leadership: He’d just helped the Kings win their second Cup in three years.
Was it a weird pick at the time? Brown was probably the first Messier winner who you wouldn’t consider a legitimate superstar in the league, but he’d lifted the Stanley Cup as a captain twice, so this felt fine.
But then: His captaincy lasted another two years, before the Kings took his “C” and gave it to Anze Kopitar, a move that Brown was not thrilled about. He stayed on the team until 2022, finishing his 18-year career as a one-team player, and the Kings built him a statue outside the arena, so all’s well that ends well. But he’s the only Messier winner to ever be stripped of his captaincy.
(In case you’re wondering, the Kings haven’t won so much as a playoff round in the eight years since giving the C to Kopitar, so it goes without saying that he won the Messier in 2022.)
Shea Weber accepts the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award in 2016. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)5. Shea Weber, Predators, 2016
The player: Weber was 30 years old and had just finished his 11th season with the Predators, who’d drafted him in 2003.
The ‘leadery’ leadership: He’d been the captain since 2010, replacing a guy you have no memory of ever playing in Nashville but apparently did. Over time, Weber had become the face of the franchise, other than that one time he signed a $110 million contract with another team. That’s just a different kind of leadership, you see.
Was it a weird pick at the time? Not really. The offer sheet thing was weird, but it had been years ago, and by 2016 Weber was well-respected as one of the league’s best defensemen. He was also, very clearly, a Predator for life.
But then: The Predators traded him a week after he won the Messier.
No really, it was literally one week. On June 29, the Predators dealt their captain to the Canadiens for P.K. Subban. You no doubt remember the trade as part of the wildest 23 minutes in offseason history, one that also involved the Taylor Hall-for-Adam Larsson swap and Steven Stamkos signing an eight-year extension to stay in Tampa. Hey, at least some team out there is willing to keep their captain for life, he said, setting up the next entry.
4. Steven Stamkos, Lightning, 2023
The player: The true definition of a franchise player, Stamkos had been with the Lightning since being drafted first overall in 2008, winning two Rocket Richards and two Stanley Cups along the way.
The ‘leadery’ leadership: Stamkos had been the Lightning’s captain since midway through the 2013-2014 season. That had included his dramatic return from serious injury to score a key goal in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final. And of course, he’d taken significantly less than he could have had on the open market to stay in Tampa in 2016, signing for the maximum eight years so he could finish his career with the Lightning.
Was it a weird pick at the time? Only in the sense that a lot of us were surprised to realize Stamkos hadn’t won it already.
But then: Stamkos lasted one more year in Tampa before leaving in free agency this summer, after the team basically gave his money and roster spot to Jake Guentzel.
OK, yes, that is an oversimplification of a complicated process, and we’ll probably never know how it all went down behind the scenes. But it seems fair to assume that at no point during the year-long extension negotiation did anyone in the Lightning front office pound the table while shouting “Dammit, we can’t lose this guy, he’s a Mark Messier Leadership Award winner!”
The player: The Swedish legend and future Hall of Famer had been with his Ontario-based team forever, including over a decade a decade as captain.
The ‘leadery’ leadership: Sundin had been named captain in 1997, taking over from the traded Doug Gilmour, who’d taken over from the traded Wendel Clark, who’d taken over from Rob Ramage, who’d taken over from the traded Rick Vaive, who’d taken over from the traded Darryl Sittler.
You’ll notice that Ramage wasn’t traded. That’s because he was lost in an expansion draft instead. Who said the Leafs aren’t a stable organization?
Was it a weird pick at the time? That depended on who you believed.
But then: The story here actually starts during the 2007-08 season, which saw the Leafs headed for their third straight playoff miss. General manager John Ferguson Jr. had been fired, and interim replacement Cliff Fletcher decided to finally pull the trigger on a long-overdue rebuild that would include his veteran captain. Sundin had a no-trade clause though, and after a few days of dramatic deliberations, he invoked it to block any deal.
His teammates quickly followed, the rebuild was set back years and fans were split on whether Sundin’s decision had been selfish or loyal. He swore it was the latter and he wanted to be a Maple Leaf for life. Messier apparently believed him. Then Sundin eventually signed with the Canucks. It was the first time a player had won the Messier and then never played another game for the team he was honored for leading in the (checks notes) two-year history of the award. Somehow, it would not be the last.
2. Daniel Alfredsson, Senators, 2013
The player: The Swedish legend and future Hall of Famer had been with his Ontario-based team forever, including over a decade as captain. Wait guys, I think Mark Messier might have a type.
The ‘leadery’ leadership: Alfredsson had been a Senator for 17 years and captain for 13, the prototypical example of a franchise lifer who you couldn’t even imagine wearing another uniform.
Was it a weird pick at the time? Somewhat, mainly because Alfredsson had recently made headlines by answering “probably not” when asked if the Sens could come back from a playoff deficit. Is that leadership? I don’t think it sounds like it, but I am not Mark Messier.
Still, you could forgive one clumsy sound bite from a lifetime Senator, he said, really pushing the whole ironic foreshadowing thing to its limit.
But then: Days after winning the award, Alfredsson shocked the hockey world by bailing on the Senators once free agency started, signing a one-year deal in Detroit. In explaining his decision to leave, he alluded to the Senators reneging on an under-the-table deal that sure sounded like cap circumvention (and which the team had to publicly deny).
It all ended well, though, as Alfredsson and Sens owner Eugene Melnyk patched up their differences and he was welcomed back to the franchise in a front-office role … for a few years, at which point Melnyk drove him out for a second time. (He’s back now, though. The third time’s the charm.)
The player: Trouba had been with the Rangers since 2019, and had been named captain in 2022 after five years of the role being vacant.
The ‘leadery’ leadership: Winnipeg fans, you want to take this one?
Was it a weird pick at the time? Sort of, although by this point we’d all kind of gotten used to the award feeling a bit random. For what it’s worth, this was the first time Messier had picked a Ranger for the annual version of the award, and no Oiler has ever won it. Those are the only two teams Messier ever played for, I am told.
Anyway, Trouba had been the captain for a long time in a demanding market, and with multiple seasons left on his contract, he’d no doubt keep the role for years to come.
But then: The Rangers pretty much immediately started trying to trade him, forcing him to invoke his no-trade clause and threaten to stay home if he was dealt, until the season started and the front office conceded he was an important piece of a contender and should be allowed to play out the contract he’d negotiated in good faith. Just kidding, they threatened him with a waiver loophole to force him out. You know, because of leadership.
I’m going to limit our list to those eight, and will accept thanks in advance from fans of Deryk Engelland and Nick Foligno. In the meantime, feel free to head to the comments and offer your suggestions as to who should win this year’s coveted Mark Messier Award.
(Top photo of Steven Stamkos accepting the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award in 2023: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)