Boston Bruins' 10 Greatest Players of All Time

A sense of recency bias might have you rank Pastrnak higher. Actually, his sheer talent might have you rank him higher, too. But we’re going for No. 10 right now with full recognition that he could end up higher.

He entered the NHL as an 18-year-old in 2014 and after taking two seasons to get his feet wet, has been a star ever since. In almost 850 games, all with the Bruins, Pasta has put up almost 950 points.

9. Eddie Shore (1926-1940)

It’s hard to properly rank guys who played almost 100 years ago, so if you want to quibble with Shore’s placing, or his inclusion, have at it. But Shore is a Hall of Famer who won two Stanley Cups and four Hart Trophies as a defenseman in his 14-year career from 1926 to 1940

8. Milt Schmidt (1936-42, 1945-55)

Schmidt entered the league just as Shore was nearing the end of his career and the former picked up where the latter left off, even though Schmidt played as a center.

He, too, is a Hall of Famer with two Cups and a Hart Trophy. He coached Boston from 1955-1966, and his additional years as Bruins general manager saw him capture two more titles and his place on this list.

7. Cam Neely (1986-1996)

Speaking of bias, maybe Neely doesn’t belong. But this is our list and he was a formative part of our growing hockey fandom in the 1980s and 90s.

Knee and hip injuries cut his career short at 13 seasons, but in 525 games with Boston, Neely racked up 590 points and 921 penalty minutes as an absolute beast of a power forward.

6. Zdeno Chara (2006-2020)

Standing 6-foot-9 and weighing 250 pounds, Chara was an intimidating force on the blue line from the moment he was drafted by the Islanders in 1996 and entered the NHL in 1997. He spent four very unremarkable seasons in New York before moving to Ottawa where he began to develop.

But Chara turned into a superstar in Boston from 2006 to 2020. He won a Norris Trophy and a Stanley Cup, captaining the team from his arrival to his exit.

5. Patrice Bergeron (2003-2023)

Bergeron almost certainly would have captained the Bruins had Chara not been on the roster. He was just as good a defender at his position, too, winning six Selke Trophies in his 19-year career, all with Boston.

Bergeron was no third-line defensive specialist, either, scoring 1,040 points in his 1,294 games before retiring after the 2022-23 season.

4. Johnny Bucyk (1957-1978)

Whether you think he should be No. 4 or higher (and there’s no way you think he should be lower), Bucyk is a lock for the Bruins’ proverbial Mount Rushmore. His 545 goals rank first in franchise history, still, and he retired back in 1978.

Before that, he spent 21 years with the Bs. Ever the gentleman, Bucyk also won two Lady Byngs and finished top three another four times. Throw in the two Cups and you’re talking about a legend.

3. Phil Esposito (1967-1976)

Imagine facing a line that included Bucyk and Esposito. Good luck. Espo was the premier goal-scorer of his time, leading the NHL in goals six straight times from 1969-70 to 1974-75.

He led the league in points in five seasons, too, capturing two Hart Trophies and five Art Ross Trophies.

If you want to slide him lower because he spent just nine of his 18 years with the Bruins, go ahead. But we’re not moving him.

2. Ray Bourque (1979-2000)

The leading scorer in Bruins history isn’t a forward. It’s Bourque, who captained Boston for 15 seasons in the 1980s and 90s.

From 1979-80 to 1995-96, Bourque never finished worse than fourth in Norris Trophy voting and won the award five times.

He never captured a Stanley Cup with the Bruins, though, who let him go to Colorado at the trade deadline in 2000. Bourque finally got to lift the trophy the next season, his last in the NHL.

1. Bobby Orr (1966-1976)

As good as Bourque was, Orr still earns the top spot on this list. It’s tough, after all, to top the greatest defenseman to ever play.

In 10 years with Boston, Orr won eight Norris Trophies, only missing out his rookie season (when he finished third) and his final season with the Bruins when he played just 10 games. His knee gave out on him that year, at age 28, and he played just 26 more games the rest of his NHL career.

He’s still the only defenseman to ever win the Art Ross Trophy, given to the league’s leading scorer, twice, and no D-man has ever registered more assists or points in a single season than Orr’s 102 and 139 in 1970-71.