The Boston Bruins will meet the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The team reached 100 points, Morgan Geekie had a career best 39 goals, David Pastrnak eclipsed 100 points for himself for the fourth year in a row, some amazing storylines for this group as they closed out the 2025-2026 regular season. One of the most glaring omissions for this team is that there is no captain assigned. Oddly enough, the last team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup was the 1971-1972 Boston Bruins. It has been a while, to say the least, and the Bruins are on the wrong side of history if they are looking to go the distance this Spring.
Taking a more macro look at the captaincy, many have made cases for some of the current players to take that next step and wear the “C”. However, there are some questions as to why one had not been immediately named after the departure of Brad Marchand at last year’s trade deadline. Household names like Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak are some obvious options that have been floated, while a newcomer like Nikita Zadorov certainly seems to fit the role as well. All have a good case to be named the 28th captain in Bruins history, and they all have different personalities that could play well in the room.
Pastrnak and McAvoy are the clear front-runners. From the outside looking in, Pastrnak has an infectious personality and has taken his play-making game to a new level this season, proving that he can play any style of offensive game for whatever situation is needed. While McAvoy has been a stalwart on the back end for the Bruins defense core over the past several seasons and coming off a career high of 61 points. He seems to have a more stoic disposition and a “lead by example” attitude. At this point, choosing between these two would be a stamp of approval for how the organization wants the locker room to be handled. Not to say that there isn’t room for both guys, it is just a matter of optics.
Bruins insider gives a glimpse of where things stand
On Tuesday morning, before the regular season finale against New Jersey, Bruins Senior Writer for The Athletic, Fluto Shinzawa, was asked about the captaincy race on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Morning Show, Toucher and Hardy. His responses gave some more pointed insight into how both Pastrnak and McAvoy were feeling about the predicament of not being named captain.
Shinzawa led his response about Pastrnak specifically, with “It’s a complicated situation”, then followed up with stating “I think he (Pastrnak) would make a great captain… I think Charlie would make a great captain."
What started as a political answer to a question that has been asked all season took a turn when Fluto went on to estimate, “Let’s say David doesn’t get the captaincy, and they give it to Charlie, I don’t think he (Pastrnak) would be affected by that as much as, if say, they gave it to David, I think there would be some significant disappointment in Charlie (McAvoy), so I think that comes into play”.
That is some pretty telling insight from Shinzawa, in my opinion. My first question is, is the Bruins front office purposely not choosing between these two to not hurt feelings? As much flak as Don Sweeney and Cam Neely have gotten over the years, I don’t think they would treat something as coveted as the Boston Bruins captaincy as a popularity contest or make a decision of this magnitude in order not to hurt feelings.
My next question would be, does this open the door for an outside hire? Over the past year or so there have been conjectures that captains around the league, like Auston Matthews or Brady Tkachuk, are unhappy in their current positions and may look like they are going elsewhere. Could the Bruins be a possible suitor?
The more likely scenario, in my opinion, is that the organization is looking to this playoff run for some solace on who they ultimately choose. This will be the first playoff without the old guard of players like Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, and Brad Marchand. For years, I have always felt these franchise, cornerstone players have been relied upon as a safety blanket when there are tall tasks ahead. The Bruins will play one of the hottest teams in the NHL, the Buffalo Sabres, and are slated to be a clear underdog in the first round for the first time since 2010, when they faced off against, you guessed it, the Buffalo Sabres.
This is a prime opportunity for the likes of Pastrnak and McAvoy to cement themselves as future captain and lead this team to a first-round upset and beyond. No question they have both had outstanding regular seasons; however, the playoffs are where the elite players shine. It’s time for them to take the next step in their illustrious careers if they are serious about donning the “C” for years to come.
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