Star Defenseman Says Bruins Won't Name Captain

Over the past 20 years or so, the Boston Bruins had three outstanding captains in Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

Now, though, they find themselves without a captain for the first time in what seems like forever.

After trading Marchand to the Florida Panthers in March, the Bruins went the rest of the season without any player wearing the "C," which was to be expected. With two great options for the captaincy in defenseman Charlie McAvoy and forward David Pastrnak, though, most assumed that they would name a new one before the 2025-26 season, but that may not be the case.

While speaking with Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, McAvoy revealed that the Bruins don't plan on naming a captain for this season, and that both he and Pastrnak would split leadership duties as alternate captains.

“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. “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."

"Just what I’ll say on that front is I love that we’re going to be able to take this on together. And regardless of letters, we know that this is our team, me and him. And for however many years we get to be here, it’s going to be us two, along with a lot of other guys, right? But this is our baby now, me and him, and there’s nobody else that I’d rather do it with and I know we’re going to make each other better, on and off the ice.” 

McAvoy, 27, unfortunately missed extensive time last season after suffering a shoulder injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. While he said he could've returned had the Bruins been in playoff contention, the Bruins selling off key pieces such as Marchand, Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle basically ended any chance of that.

It's definitely a new era for the Bruins with most of their longtime stars gone, but at the very least, they have McAvoy and Pastrnak to help lead the way.