The Red Wings named Yzerman team captain heading into the 1986-87 season. At just 21 years old, he was the youngest captain in NHL history at the time. He wore the «C» on his sweater for the next 19 seasons, the longest captaincy in the league's history.
Yzerman captained three Stanley Cup-winning teams in 1997, 1998, and 2002. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1998, for being the most valuable player of the postseason, by scoring six goals and 24 points in 22 games.