Boston Bruins: Top 5 Players Most Likely To Have Their Number Retired
The Boston Bruins have a roster of players that have been through it all with the team, with countless names that will no doubt hang in the TD Garden rafters one day.
Being an ‘Original Six’ team, the Boston Bruins have a richer history than most when it comes to retiring numbers. You only need look to the rafters to realise that you’re in esteemed company if your number is raised up there.
Currently hanging in the rafters at TD Garden are the numbers of Eddie Shore, Lionel Hitchman, Bobby Orr, Dit Clapper, Phil Esposito, Cam Neely, Johhny Bucyk, Milt Schmidt, Rick Middleton, Terry O’Reilly and Ray Bourque.
Looking to that list, any current roster player for the Boston Bruins has a lot to live up to if they one day want to see their number raised up.
However, with that said, there’s at least two players we should expect to see it happening for; if the Boston Bruins manage to win a second Stanley Cup with this core group of players, you could quite reasonably expand that number too.
It’s really hard to judge though in terms of what a player needs to do to earn the ultimate honor, especially in the modern game.
After all, jersey numbers are only two digits maximum and if every player that did something special had their number retired, we’d soon run out.
We’re talking the best of the best here. On the current Boston Bruins roster, that trims it down but there’s still plenty of options. We’re going to start with the most likely of the bunch:
Zdeno Chara
It almost goes without saying that the number 33 will be hanging in the TD Garden rafters before too long. After all, this is the captain that lifted the Stanley Cup in 2011 after our 39-year drought.
Not only that though; Zdeno Chara embodies everything we expect from a Boston Bruins captain; he’s a fearless leader, he’s put his body on the line countless times for the team and has a fantastic veteran nurturing countless young defensemen when they first started in the league.
He is a Boston Bruins icon with over 1000 regular season games and a further 142 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the team. Let’s not forget that in his heyday, he’d be out there thirty minutes a night too.
You only need look at last season’s Stanley Cup Final to see how important the Boston Bruins’ success is to the captain. He suffered a broken jaw in that series and was unable to eat, drinking his meals through a straw, yet he still continued to give his all for the team.
His return at TD Garden for Game 5 of that series with the St. Louis Blues was a goosebump-inducing moment and one absolutely deserved by a warrior of a player.
He’s been to three Stanley Cup Finals in Boston Bruins colors and although he has only lifted the Stanley Cup that once, he’s never backed down from the physicality and intensity you have to show to even get within touching distance of it.
While his game is now slowing down and he can’t quite compete on the same level he once did, you can make an absolute guarantee that it won’t impact upon the adoration Boston Bruins fans hold for him.
The biggest question really is just when will hang up his skates for that one last time? The moment that occurs, you can rest assured a banner will be ordered.
Brad Marchand
Moving on from an absolute lock to have his banner raised to a player that is arguably on the border-line.
There’s no denying the importance of Brad Marchand for the Boston Bruins these days, but there’s every chance that he eventually ends his career just below that legendary status.
Where do we begin really when it comes to Brad Marchand; he’s our very own ‘little ball of hate’. He is despised across the league but that only leads Boston Bruins fans to love him even more.
Some of his antics in the past have led us to question what’s going on in his head, but at other times, we’ve found it downright hilarious how easily he seems to get under opposition players’ skin.
On it’s own, this would be zero reason to ever consider raising a banner, but there’s far more to his game than that, which is what makes him such an interesting case.
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The past four campaigns, he’s consistently put up 80-plus points, in fact he would’ve most likely hit 100 points for a second consecutive season if it weren’t for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Likewise, his consecutive seasons with 30 or more goals would’ve very likely extended to a fifth year if it weren’t for the early end to the 2019-20 season.
He took a fair amount of time to truly find his game and that might hold him back from ever having his banner raised, though in recent years he’s done everything he can to make up for relatively lean years at the start of his Boston Bruins’ career.
As a result, he finds himself 10th all-time for points, 12th all-time in assists and 7th all-time for goals; numbers which could’ve been slightly higher if he hadn’t taken so long to properly break-out.
It’s undeniable that he’s a Boston Bruins legend and one day will retire as such, but it’s an uncertainty whether he deserves a banner raising or not. Time will tell.
Torey Krug
Another player that falls very much in the same place as Brad Marchand. Of course, free agency will also make this decision easier or harder. After all, should Krug leave now, there’s no chance he’ll ever see his number retired.
However, should he end up remaining with the Boston Bruins and potentially even take a discount as part of the bargain, well then he’s only going to elevate his status with fans.
Currently only Bourque, Orr, Brad Park and Chara have scored more Bruins play-off points than Torey Krug, likewise for the regular season, though the order of that quartet differs slightly; not bad for an under-sized kid that went undrafted!
For all that has been made of his size throughout his career, Boston Bruins fans have warmed to him for his willingness to still throw his body out there, to happily drop the gloves if the call comes, while also proving one of our best offensive threats on the blue-line, ever since the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Weighing in Krug’s favor is the fact that he is the Boston Bruins’ leading American-born assists and points scorer of all-time. That lead only continues to increase too and should he end up renewing his deal, he’ll soon likely be among the top 10 American goal scorers of all-time too.
He is certainly among the best in his era for the team, question is whether he is enough of an all-time great to see his banner raised to the rafters one day or not.
On a lesser team, you’d say it’d happen. On a team steeped in as much history as the Bruins, you’d look to the American-born angle to truly 100% justify it. At least, right now anyway.
Patrice Bergeron
Possibly the only lock other than Zdeno Chara. He’s been omni-present in the Boston Bruins line-up for almost two decades and has been among the best two-way centers in the game for much of that time.
Not only is he a nine-time Selke Trophy nominated center, but he’s won the award a record four times which in itself deserves recognition; this ties him with Bob Gainey for the most Selke Trophy wins in NHL history.
Far from just focusing on his defensive game though, he’s contributed 869 regular season points over that time as well as 103 play-off points, including the Stanley Cup winning goal back in 2011.
On almost any other team in the league, Patrice Bergeron would likely be captain. He leads with class and gives a tremendous amount back to the Boston Bruins community; he also isn’t afraid to tackle the hard questions when they inevitably come his way.
He has been there for the ultimate high of winning the Stanley Cup Final and has been there for the lows of two Stanley Cup Final losses.
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When you look to the list of the Boston Bruins’ all-time leading goalscorers, he’s right there sitting fifth, sandwiched between Bourque and Neely, who of course both already have their numbers in the rafters.
It’s a similar story with all-time regualr season assists and points, right behind Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr respectively. We must also not forget that by the time he retires, he will have had every chance of surpassing these iconic names.
I don’t think anyone would argue with raising his banner. He’s been one of the best for the Boston Bruins over an extended period and it would be just reward for his efforts.
David Pastrnak
Now, this is one that remains very much to be seen. David Pastrnak is still an incredibly young player at just 24 years old, so retirement is likely a long way off and who knows if he remains a Boston Bruins player for life or not.
Right now, on the Boston Bruins all-time leading regular season goals list, he already ranks 22nd. If he has even a 40-goal campaign next season, he’s going to be 15th all-time having only played seven seasons.
Again, it’s early in his career and he’s only played 390 regular season games, but his points per game is right up there with Ray Bourque and slightly ahead of Johnny Bucyk, though they of course maintained that over 1000-plus games.
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He already has a Maurice Richard Trophy to his name, with the shortened campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic unfortunately stopping him short of 50 goals. That season still placed him in some elite company though.
It’s hard to predict what the future may bring, but everything points towards David Pastrnak being an elite member of the Boston Bruins for the considerable future.
Given the steady improvement of his goalscoring and all-round points production season-on-season, it’s not unbelievable to expect him to hit the 100-point mark, nor top the 50-goal mark.
Consistently doing so for the next 10 years will ultimately decide whether his number is one day considered for retirement.
Right now, he’s got a way to go. That’s doesn’t mean he can’t one day get there though.