"“We have a lot of guys in the team who can fill that void. I think it’s a younger team, but there’s guys like Nico, there’s guys like Kyle who are ready to take on that.” — Travis Zajac"
The captaincy is something the players are going to hear a lot about until one is named. Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri, and Nico Hischier were all named assistant captains already, so it makes a lot of sense that those are the three who were expected to be the next captain.
Both Palmieri and Hischier talked about what it would mean to them to be the next captain. Zajac, on the other hand, doesn’t sound like he wants the captaincy. He’s in a contract year, so that probably has something to do with the fact he doesn’t want it. The pressure that comes with the captaincy might influence his decision for the future.
Speaking of future, that seems to be where Zajac wants the captaincy to go. He specifically brought up Palmieri and Hischier in this quote.
The reason this quote is bigger than the quotes from Hischier and Palmieri is it basically takes Zajac out of the running. Lindy Ruff is not going to name a captain who isn’t all in on that move. That’s backfired in the past. Zajac has been great for this organization, and most people think he should have been captain at some point, but that time has passed and it’s time to name either Nico HIschier or Kyle Palmieri the 12th captain in Devils history.