The Manitoba Moose are in need of a new captain as Jimmy Oligny recently signed in Slovakia with HKM Zvolen for this season. Oligny, the 10th captain in franchise history, wore the C for the past three seasons but a number of serious injuries limited the gritty undrafted defenseman to just 92 games since the beginning of 2021-22.
Replacing a high-character individual like Oligny — who won the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as the league’s man of the year in 2023 for his outstanding contributions to local community and charitable organizations — isn’t easy. Assuming the team doesn’t want to go without a captain in 2024-25, as they did for most of last season after Oligny suffered an injury just eight games into his season that required season-ending surgery, head coach Mark Morrison and company must find a suitable replacement to lead the Winnipeg Jets’ top affiliate.
An AHL captain has an underrated importance to any organization. They not only have to lead the team on the ice, but also have to mentor young players — in some case, teenagers who have never played professional hockey or lived independently — and guide them through all the rigors being a pro hockey player and an adult entails. An AHL captain is often someone older who has been around the proverbial block a few times, but can’t be someone too likely to be called up to the NHL. They need to be a steady hand, be able to command respect in the locker room while also being kind, and set an example with a strong work ethic.
Here, we’ll take a look at three candidates for the next Moose captain.
Ashton Sautner
Sautner is one of many players who acted an alternate captain last season after Oligny went down. If the organization wants to give a local guy the C — as they did with Peter Stoykewych, Oligny’s predecessor — they should look no further than the 30-year-old Sautner.
Born in Flin Flon, Manitoba, the undrafted defenseman spent five seasons in the Vancouver Canucks’ organization, suiting up for 23 NHL games over parts of three seasons but spending most of his time in the AHL with the Utica Comets. He played two games with the Moose in the shortened 2020-21 season before joining them full time ahead of the 2022-23 season.
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He has been a blue line mainstay for Manitoba since, playing 68 games in 2022-23 and 65 games last season, recording 12 and 11 points, respectively, in those campaigns. In 416-career AHL games between the Comets, Abbotsford Canucks, and the Moose, he has 21 goals and 64 assists for 85 points and 282 penalty minutes. He has also played in 16-career Calder Cup Playoff games.
Prior to his professional career, he helped the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings win a pair of Ed Chynoweth Cups (2012 and 2014) and win the Memorial Cup (2014.) He signed a one-year contract extension with the Jets organization in July.
C.J. Suess
Suess (pronounced “cease”) has also worn an A for a number of seasons and enters the 2024-25 campaign much more familiar with the organization than most.
The 30-year-old left winger was drafted by the Jets in the fifth round in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, and has suited up for the Moose for parts of six different seasons over two different stints dating back to 2017-18. He left the organization briefly to play with the San Jose Sharks organization in 2022-23, but prior to last season, signed a two-year AHL deal to return to Manitoba.
The Forest Lake, Minnesota, native is a well-rounded and competitive forward who in 280-career AHL games between the Moose and San Jose Barracuda has 65 goals and 60 assists for 125 points and 136 penalty minutes. He also has one goal and two assists for three points in 10-career AHL playoff games and has played five NHL games.
He had 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points in 68 games last season for the Moose in a top-nine role and his 234 Moose games played is 19th all time and the most of anyone currently on the roster.
Dominic Toninato
Dominic Toninato has the most NHL experience of the three candidates, having played nearly 200-career big-league games between the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, and Jets. Originally drafted in the fifth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, the centre has played a top-six role and served as an alternate for the Moose for the past two seasons, recording 26 goals and 29 assists for 55 points in 87 games.
Toninato originally came to the Jets organization in October, 2020 on a two-way contract and enters 2024-25 on the final year of a two-year, two-way deal. The Duluth, Minnesota-born 30 year old has played 99 games for the Jets, including a career-high 77 in 2021-22, but has fallen down the depth chart as the organization has added a lot of top-end forward talent via the draft since he originally came aboard.
In 195-career AHL games between the San Antonio Rampage, Colorado Eagles, Springfield Thunderbirds, and the Moose, he has 55 goals and 53 assists for 103 points and four assists in 11 AHL playoff games. He set an AHL career high with 35 points in 50 games for the 2022-23 Moose. In the NHL, he has 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points in 184 games.