Seattle Thunderbirds center Matthew Wedman has been named team captain for the 2019-20 Western Hockey League season.

“Our team identity is exemplified by Matt,” said coach Matt O’Dette. “He will be an example to our team of a player who knows what it means to be a T-Bird and play the T-Bird way.

“Tyrel Bauer and Conner Bruggen-Cate will be assistant captains this season,” O’Dette added. “We will have a third assistant captain who will rotate through the season, and we look forward to guys earning the honor of wearing a letter.”

Wedman is the 36th captain in team history. Nolan Volcan was the team captain during the 2018-19 season.

The NHL’s Florida Panthers selected Wedman in the seventh round, 199th overall, in the 2019 draft on June 22. Wedman attended the Panthers’ development camp after the draft and took part in their training camp before joining the Springfield Thunderbirds training camp. Springfield is the AHL affiliate of the Panthers.

Wedman was the T-Birds’ leading scorer last season with 40 goals and 37 assists for 77 points in 66 games. He was the first T-Bird to hit 40 goals since Prab Rai had 41 goals in the 2009-10 season. Wedman was named a Second Team Western Conference All-Star last season.

In 255 career games with the T-Birds, he has 67 goals and 90 assists for 157 points. In 43 career playoff games, Wedman has three goals and seven assists for 10 points.

The T-Birds’ next game is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Kamloops Blazers . They travel to Spokane to take on the Chiefs at 7:05 p.m. Friday. The T-Birds return to the accesso ShoWare Center on Saturday to take on the Victoria Royals at 6:05 p.m.

For individual and group tickets, visit seattlethunderbirds.com.