It took Bryce Salvador five seasons playing in junior and three more in the AHL before he finally made the NHL in 2000, at the age of 24.  Eight years later, he was traded to New Jersey and instead of bolting like most other deadline rentals, he chose to sign a four-year contract and put up roots in his new home.  Two years ago, Salvador missed the entire season due to an inner ear concussion and many – including me – thought he was finished.  Last year, he played every single game in the regular season and playoffs (106 all told), leading a no-name defense by example during the regular season and going on a surprising scoring binge in the playoffs to help spur the underdog Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals.  Even after that run, most figured he would surely leave this offseason for one last payday given the depth the Devils have on their blueline…and again, he stayed.

Leadership, loyalty and perserverance – those are the reasons Salvador became the tenth captain in Devils history this afternoon.  Perhaps some see this as a surprise choice given that Ilya Kovalchuk is still on the roster, despite the best efforts of certain people in Russia to convince him to stay after the lockout ended, and he has previous experience as a captain.  Indeed, Kovy and Patrik Elias (also a prior captain) are the assistant captains this year but make no mistake, Salvador was the right choice for this team.  Arguably, there’s nobody in the room more respected than the understated 37-year old vet, who reacted with typical humility and a tinge of humor:

“It’s been a really interesting last two years for me personally to miss a season and not really now what was going to happen, what the future was going to be,” he said. “Then, the team has a good year last year and now to be named captain, I don’t know what the odds would have been for that in Vegas two years ago. But, that being said, it’s the team around you too that builds the captain. This organization, it’s the coaching staff, it’s the players, it’s management, in their own way they all have their say.”

Although many teams make their best player captain by rote, you don’t have to be the best player on the team to lead, and indeed the Devils have many leaders including Martin Brodeur, the team’s elder statesman.  However, it’s generally not feasible for goalies to be captain for a number of reasons, and Elias by his own admission had his time when he was captain for a year before inexplicably being stripped of the C by then-coach Brent Sutter.  Kovy was the smart money choice to get the C, and certainly showed his leadership by pacing the team in scoring throughout the playoffs last year with a bad back, but arguably has enough on his plate as it is being the sole go-to-guy on offense now that our last captain bolted for Minnesota.

There isn’t any worry about that with Sal, who re-upped for the second time as a free agent this offseason despite many – again, including me – figuring there was no place for him as part of a stacked blueline of fellow vets under contract (every starter except Marek Zidlicky is inked for multiple seasons) with prospects ready to join the fold.  Our defensive logjam is a question that still has to be answered in the weeks, if not hours ahead before the Devils’ Opening Night roster gets finalized at 3 PM tomorrow.  One thing we do know is that #24 won’t be going anywhere for some time now.