Marchand, Bruins eager to see the next core take flight alongside centennial season

Brad Marchand might have a future in fashion once his playing days are behind him. 

After Brandon Carlo and Milan Lucic showed off the Bruins' primary home and away sweaters for their 100th season, No. 63 stole the show at Boston's 'Centennial Takeoff' event at the JetBlue hangar at Logan Airport on Saturday, hamming it up as he sashayed down the runway in the new alternate sweater. 

"I'm retiring early and I'm going to be a model," Marchand quipped. "It was a blast. Much easier."

Fortunately for the Bruins, Marchand was only joking after they already saw franchise stalwarts Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci opt for retirement earlier in the offseason. Their departures were part of the reason Marchand was so eager to live it up as if he were preparing to be on the cover of GQ. 

"I think you can tell I like to enjoy these moments and soak them all up. You never know how many events like this you're going to be a part of," he said. "I think with Bergy and Krech retiring – not to get sentimental – but you realize how quick it goes and how close we're kind of getting to that line as well."

While the new on-ice look for the Spoked-B will be the most glaringly obvious change for the B's in 2023-24, it'll only be one of many differences for these new-look Bruins, set to take the ice without either Bergeron or Krejci in the lineup for the first time in over two decades.

The Bruins will have a captain this year, as Jim Montgomery confirmed last week. He, Cam Neely and Don Sweeney have had ongoing discussions around the captaincy since Bergeron called it a career at the end of July. They expect to have the decision "buttoned up soon," Neely said Saturday. 

"First and foremost, you want somebody that comes to play and hard to work hard every day," Neely said of his ideal captain. "I think we've seen that through captains, you know, from Ray [Bourque] to [Zdeno] Chara to Bergy, where you know, they're the hardest working guys on the ice. There's no better way to lead than by showing."

Brandon Carlo echoed Neely's sentiment.

"I think obviously the first thing is on the ice and just the competitiveness. I think that's something that our captains have brought to the rink every day and led by example in that way," he said. "From what I've noticed, especially within our history here, just being able to manage guys as well. I think we have plenty of guys within our room who can read well off each other and support each other in times when we need and also give each other a push. It'll be important to work together in that regard, but we definitely have some guys with great qualities in all of that."

Bergeron's co-pilot for the last 13 years, Marchand is the likely choice to succeed No. 37 and don the 'C' on his sweater, checking all the boxes when it comes to work ethic and setting the tone.

"It'd be cool, but you know, it's not something I'm really focused on," Marchand said of the captaincy, parroting his previous responses on the matter. "I don't need a letter to be a leader. I mean, I know my place on this team, and I know what I do and where my value is. That's kind of the way it's always been in our room. Bergy was a co-captain with Zee a long time before he wore the 'C.' 

"You know, respect's earned. It's not given because you have a letter on your jersey. That's something that you're taught pretty early on here. You've got to earn everything you're given. So, regardless of how that all plays out, I know what I need to do and where I need to help in the room leadership-wise. That won't change."

Regardless of whether he does or doesn't assume the captaincy, he will be at the forefront of ushering in the close of one chapter for the franchise in addition to the start of another as the bridge between the Chara-Bergeron-Krejci core of the 2010s and the new nucleus. Even with Marchand, the longest-tenured Bruin, still around as the guiding hand, the keys largely belong to the next wave – Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle, Hampus Lindholm, Jake DeBrusk and Pavel Zacha. 

"They learned from some really good leaders that have left with Zee, Bergy and Krech, and if they haven't learned anything from them, then shame on them," Neely said. "It is this new group that's got to take over – not new, but they've been around for a while. Now it's falling on their shoulders to be able to really teach the other players that walk through that locker room for the first time about what it means to be a Bruin."

Boston expects that group to relish their increased opportunity from both a leadership perspective and the on-ice component. After Zacha's breakout season in 2022-23, Marchand and the organization "expect another big one for him again this year." The same goes for Coyle, also penciled into top-six duties, staring down bigger minutes and bigger situations. 

As disappointed as the B's might have been to see the amount of turnover that they did this offseason, they realize the growth and possibilities that lie ahead for this budding core.

"With guys like that, that have had to kind of pay their dues and earn their time, you know, they're always ready for that for that moment," Marchand said. "I expect them to take full ownership of that, and kind of thrive with with opportunity they're given. That's when you see guys take the next jump in their careers, when they're given a little bit of an extra opportunity or they're given more ice time or first-unit to power play and stuff like that. You see guys just kind of take it to the next level, and hopefully, we see that from a few guys this year. And again, with this opportunity comes a lot of great things ... We're gonna lean on that look to have a big year."

Carlo feels this next core is ready to step into their own as pillars of the organization. 

"I think so. I've talked about it hugely with the guys that we've been fortunate enough to have in this locker room, and I think it's our responsibility to take everything that they've taught us and carry it on as well as just to add new things of our brand. I think that'll be important as well to work as a group, a full unit, especially with us being a little bit younger. It'll take everybody involved. Bergy was always just a comfort zone for us. It was nice to have him around camp. We always felt that veteran presence was there and handling things. 

"But it's great to get to this point in your career where you have to step up and you want more responsibility. I think we're all very excited for that opportunity."