Rod Brind'Amour is no longer captain (!)

Yes, you read the title correctly. Rod Brind'Amour has been stripped of his captaincy, which has been given to Eric Staal.

Okay, we all knew this was going to happen eventually due to Brind'Amour's reduced capacity with the team - but I'm startled that it has happened during this season. If you needed to reboot the team, why didn't you do it earlier in the season, when there was still a glimmer of the playoffs? Since Rod has lasted this long as captain of a crappy team, why end it now?

I think it needed to happen, but again, I think the timing is very odd. I suppose this is the signal that we should begin looking forward to the next season.

UPDATED: An article at the Canes site pretty much reinforces the above. Apparently Rod could have vetoed the move if he wanted to, but Rutherford thought the timing was appropriate because the Canes want to move towards their newer, brighter, younger (and hopefully winning) future.