DENVER – The University of Denver hockey team announced today that senior forward Carter King has been named the 95th captain in program history for the upcoming 2024-25 season. Joining King on the Pioneers' formal leadership group are graduate student Connor Caponi and junior Aidan Thompson as the squad's alternate captains.
 
"I am excited to announce Carter King as our team captain for this season. He has risen to the occasion both on and off the ice since arriving during the COVID-shortened season in 2020-21, and he has the full trust of not only our coaching staff, but more importantly, his teammates," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle.  "Carter, Connor and Aidan are not the only leaders we have in our locker room, as we have a number of other players that will help guide our team through this season and the adversity we will face as we defend our national title."
 
King served as an alternate captain on last year's squad, led by 2023-24 team captain McKade Webster.
He was a member of both the Pioneers' 2022 and 2024 national championship squads, one of nine players that earned rings in both years and helped Denver set the NCAA record for the most college hockey titles (10).
 
"It's an honor to be named captain of a program like this that has such a great history," King said. "Even in my time here, from Kohen Olischefski to Cole Guttman to Justin Lee to McKade Webster last year, it has been great to learn from such great people and see the different leadership styles that have come through here. I've learned a lot, and I hope to be just as good of a captain as the people that have come before me."
 
King recorded career bests last season with 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points and tied for first in the NCAA with four short-handed goals, the fifth-most in a season in school history and the most since Tyler Bozak (5) in 2007-08. He ranked second on the team in faceoff wins (342) and faceoff-winning percentage (.511) and won 10 or more draws 14 times during the season.
 
The Calgary, Alberta, native produced points in 20-of-21 games during a stretch (13g/14a) from Oct. 21-Jan. 20, which included a career-long 11-game point streak from Nov. 25-Jan. 20 (7g/6a) and personal-best five-game goal streak from Oct. 27-Nov. 11 (6g/5a)—the longest such goal run at the time by a Pioneer since Cole Guttman also had a five-game stretch (6g/3a) from Dec. 7, 2019-Jan. 4, 2020 (later surpassed in 2023-24 by Miko Matikka).
 
King, who attended the NHL's Calgary Flames development camp this past summer as an invite, owns 69 career points (29g/40a) in 115 career games. His five career short-handed goals rank tied for sixth-most in program history, and he became just the fifth Pioneer to tally multiple times shorthanded in the same game on Nov 10 at Arizona State and was the first to do so since Tyler Bozak on Nov. 4, 2007 versus Minnesota.
 
Caponi returns as an alternate captain after also serving in the same role last season, and the grad student earned an extra year of eligibility through the NCAA due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. He appeared in all 44 games in 2023-24 and registered career bests with five goals, eight assists and 13 points. He also added 26 penalty minutes, 22 blocked shots and a plus-4 rating during the year. Caponi tied a career high by blocking four shots in the NCAA Championship Game against Boston College on April 13.
 
From Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the forward has 28 points (13g/15a) and 114 penalty minutes in 143 career games over the course of four seasons at Denver. Caponi appeared in his 125th contest on Jan. 27 at North Dakota and enters the upcoming campaign just 25 games shy of tying Ryan Barrow's all-time games played record of 168 (2017-2022).
 
Thompson scored a career-high 11 goals while adding 19 assists for 30 points as sophomore in 2023-24. He played in all 44 games and ranked first on the team with 344 faceoff wins and third with a .510 winning percentage at the dot. Thompson won 19 faceoffs on Feb. 23 versus Miami, setting a new single-game career high and marking the most draws in a game by a Pioneer since Cole Guttman also won 19 against UMass Lowell on March 24, 2022.
 
The Fort Collins, Colorado, native owns 21 goals, 41 assists and 62 points in 76 career games. He has tallied seven power-play goals and three game-winning markers, with two of those winners coming in overtime. Selected No. 90 overall in the third round of the 2022 draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, Thompson has attended each of the last three summer development camps of the NHL organization.
 
 
UP NEXT: The No. 1 Pioneers begin the 2024-25 season on Oct. 5-6 at Alaska Anchorage. Denver hosts Northeastern at Magness Arena for homecoming weekend on Oct. 18-19.

TICKETS: Limited tickets remain for Denver hockey's 75th anniversary in 2024-25. Click here to purchase and for more information on single-game tickets, mini-plans and group options.