David Pastrnak (center) prepares to shoot the puck in a game vs. the Buffalo Sabres at the TD Garden. /
Following long-time center Patrice Bergeron’s retirement from the NHL on Wednesday, the Boston Bruins now are on the hunt to determine a new captain for the third time in four seasons.
Some teams find themselves in this same predicament of needing a new captain on a regular basis whether it is due to trades, players leaving in free agency, or just having poor leadership on, and off, the ice. The Bruins, however, historically have had the opposite problem: they have had some of the best leadership in the NHL from the coaching staff down.
Alas, the Bruins are on the hunt for a new captain. The good news, however, is they have plenty of people they can look at internally. Here are the top three candidates from within the organization to look at that could replace Bergeron as the team’s new captain going into the 2023-24 season.
Candidate #1 – Charlie McAvoy
Throughout his six seasons in the NHL, Charlie McAvoy has made it no secret that he wants to be known as a leader both on and off the ice. In his first season in the organization. He has worked hard, and his first NHL game is exhibit A. In his first NHL game on April 17, 2017, he logged the second most ice time of anyone on the team – collecting three assists in the series, ultimately earning the praise of Boston legend Bobby Orr.
When McAvoy finally made his regular season debut on October 5, 2017, McAvoy wound up collecting his first NHL goal in a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators.
McAvoy has collected 41 goals, and 189 assists over his first six seasons in the NHL, giving him 230 total points. He has also been part of the rotating group of Bruins who wear the alternate captain patch for the past few years, and is poised to replace the “A” with a “C” at some point, maybe sooner rather than later.
Candidate #2 – Brad Marchand
If you go based off of tenure with the team alone, there is no one more deserving in Boston than Brad Marchand. As one of only two players (as of right now) from the team that won the Stanley Cup Final in 2011, is David Krejci, and this is also predicated on him not retiring now that Bergeron is gone and him resigning with the team.
Currently, Krejci sits a free agent, and Bruins fans sit awaiting his imminent retirement announcement himself, or resigning notice. More about Marchand though.
In his 14 seasons in the NHL, Marchand has collected 372 goals, and 490 assists, giving him a grand total of 862 points. Throughout his career, he has also made it to the NHL All-Star Game twice, but has always prided himself on being a very vocal leader in the locker room. Marchand has stood up for his teammates both on the ice through his physical – and sometimes retaliatory – play, but he is beloved by all of his teammates for this, making him an excellent fit to take Bergeron’s spot.
Candidate #3 – David Pastrnak
It’s no secret to anyone that David Pastrnak has a way of lighting a fire under the team’s butts as soon as he touches the ice with speed, ability to stay out of the penalty box, but also score goals all at the same.
Something that adds to Pastrnak’s candidacy is his ability to stay healthy while doing all of that. Pastrnak is one of a handful of players who have actually played all 82 games recently, and he has done it twice in his first nine seasons in the NHL. In addition to this, he has played over 70 games three times.
Throughout that time, the Czech winger has scored 301 goals, and collected 316 assists, giving him a grand total of 617 points. Just this past season, he set personal bests in both goals and assists with 61 and 52, respectively.
