Bruins name Brad Marchand as team's 27th captain

The Bruins didn't have to go far to find their replacement for Patrice Bergeron in the room, naming Brad Marchand as the organization's 27th captain Wednesday morning at the start of training camp. 

“I am extremely proud of Brad and the hockey player he has become,” Charlie Jacobs said in a statement. “Brad has been a Bruin for over 15 years and had the opportunity to learn from great leaders in Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron. He is ready for this opportunity and our whole team will learn from his competitive nature and tenacity. I am confident he will represent our organization with heart and grit.”  

Boston also announced that Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak will serve as alternate captains for 2023-24.

Marchand joins a class of the organization that includes seven Hockey Hall of Famers and seven players to have their numbers retired. 

The 35-year-old is the longest-tenured Bruin after 15 seasons. He's coming off a 67-point season in 2022-23. He ranks in the top 10 all-time in the organization for games played (8th – 947), game-winning goals (4th – 71), goals (6th – 372), assists (9th – 490) and points (7th – 862) during the regular season. He's also in the franchise's top 5 for playoff games played (5th – 146), goals (2nd – 53rd), assists (4th – 75) and points (2nd – 128).

"It'd be cool, but you know, it's not something I'm really focused on," Marchand said of the captaincy on Saturday, echoing a frequent theme of his thoughts on it. "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."

Here is the full list of Bruins captains:

Patrice Bergeron (2021-23), Zdeno Chara (2006-20), Joe Thornton (2002-05), Jason Allison (2000-01), Ray Bourque (1985-2000), Rick Middleton (1985-88), Terry O'Reilly (1983-85), Wayne Cashman (1977-83), Johnny Bucyk (1966-67 and 1973-77), Leo Boivin (1963-66), Don McKenney (1961-63), Ferny Flaman (1955-61), Ed Sandford (1954-55), Milt Schmidt (1947-54), Bobby Bauer (1946-47), John Crawford (1945-46), Bill Cowley (1944-45), Ralph 'Cooney' Weiland (1937-39), Red Beattie (1936-37), Eddie Shore (1935-36), Nels Stewart (1934-35), Marty Barry (1933-34), Aubrey 'Dit' Clapper (1932-33 and 1939-44), George Owen (1931-32), Lionel Hitchman (1928-31) and Sprague Cleghorn (1925-28).

BSJ Analysis... 

• This is hardly a surprise that Marchand  assumes the 'C.' While the leadership core will also comprise of Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo and others, the only other player to have an outside shot at the captaincy would have been McAvoy. But at the end of the day, this is Marchand's time.
• As for McAvoy, his day will come. Maybe even Pastrnak's, too. I would pencil the former in as the likely successor to Marchand in however many years. But No. 73 has growth to do of his own. I believe he will get there. 
• Marchand has put in the work. He is clearly the tone-setter both on the ice and in the locker room on a consistent basis. 
• When asked in recent weeks what makes a good captain, each of Jake DeBrusk, Hampus Lindholm, Jim Montgomery, Brandon Carlo and Cam Neely underscored work ethic among their answers. Few embody that theme as much as Marchand and his lead-by-example style. 
• The real challenge will be No. 63's ability to read the room as well as Bergeron did. Not that he will need to be a carbon copy of Bergeron, but he will have to be able to hold himself and his teammates accountable, while also being able to take the temperature of where everyone is at. 
• That's where the leadership group around him comes in. As McAvoy, Pastrnak, Carlo and Coyle come into their own as leaders, the collective undertaking will aid Marchand as he grows into this role. The Bruins are cognizant of that.

“What the guys in the past have done is they did it as a group,” Marchand said earlier this month. “They were so good at bringing a group of guys together, having everyone believe the same goal, having a common goal together and believing in it. … There’s no team in any sport that can have one guy dictate what a team does, but it’s how they’re able to bring a group together. And again, that’s what our captains in the past have done and our leadership groups in the past have done, is they’ve been able to lead by numbers and strength in numbers. 

“When we had Bergy and Zee, we had two captains for a while and that just bleeds through the lineup. With Bergy … everyone had a ton of respect for him. So everyone would follow what he did and what he said, but he brought a lot of guys in together and gave them a lot of responsibility and allowed them to feel like they had a voice and that took place again through the lineup."

• At the end of the day, Marchand already was and continues to be one of the true successes of the organization over the last two decades.
• From an undersized third-round pick out of the QMJHL to a bulldog in the AHL, a fourth-line pest when he broke into the league, to an equally hated and revered top-six contributor and now one of the game's premier left-wingers over the last few seasons. 
• The 2011 champ has made immense progress over the last number of seasons to make himself more than a scorer with a lengthy rap sheet, morphing into a key leader both on and off the ice for Boston. The time is now for him.