NHL Franchise Breaks Tradition After Ending 52-Year-Old Streak

“Everything is on the table right now,” Sweeney said before training camp. “We've been forward with everybody and honest with everybody that we're going to start without it.”

First-year head coach Marco Sturm downplayed the need for a single captain even before Sweeney did.

“If you’re a Boston Bruin, it’s a big deal. If you’re not 100 percent sure, then no, you don’t [have to name a captain],” Sturm said at the start of June. “It’s the Boston Bruins, and it is a big deal. That’s something we’re going to talk about. We both have to agree that this is the right guy. We will, but I don’t know when.”

Judging by the franchise's final call, no "right guy" emerged to take the "C" among those in Boston.

One of the alternate captains, McAvoy, echoed that sentiment this week, calling the move a chance for a few Bruins players to share that responsibility rather than experience a void in leadership.

“Going into this year, we’re both going to have A’s. That’s what I know. I don’t think there’s any fire under them to do anything with that. And guess what? That’s totally fine,” McAvoy said, per the Boston Herald. “Me and Pasta are spending the time together, which I’ve found incredible, learning about him a little bit more, about him as a leader.”

The shift marks a new chapter in Boston’s leadership lineage, but the early returns were promising as Pastrnak had a goal and two assists in Boston’s 3–1 season-opening win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.