The idea of a captain’s practice for a hockey team might potentially raise an eyebrow when there isn’t actually a clear-cut captain, but that is where the Boston Bruins were at this week, with informal skates getting going at Warrior Ice Arena.
More than 20 Bruins skaters were going through their paces on Tuesday morning, a couple of weeks ahead of training camp, including David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, as they are poised to shoulder the biggest share of their leadership load for the B’s moving forward. NHL training camp doesn’t begin until Sept. 17, with rookie training camp first on the horizon, but it’s no surprise there is a strong turnout given how badly the Bruins players want to put last season’s lost campaign into the rear-view mirror.
Captains’ practice will continue in earnest for the next couple of weeks until the training camp gets underway in the middle of the month, and the exhibition season kicks off with a Sunday, Sept. 21 home date against the Washington Capitals.
But they also realize that it’s going to be a new path forward with new leaders, new players, a new head coach and, for the first time in almost 15 years, there won’t be a 2011 Stanley Cup winner on the roster as a reminder of past Bruins glory.
“I think we kind of did stop and take an acknowledgement that it is a new day and age,” said McAvoy. “We’re trying to usher in a new group of guys that are from a different generation. The reality is it’s a little bit [of a] different time. Maybe some of the things that went into how we were molded by the group in front of us…is not necessarily how we can maybe reach the younger guys the best, so we’re taking that into account.”
Charlie McAvoy on building up a new culture with the Bruins:
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) September 2, 2025
"It is a new day and age. We're trying to usher in a new group of guys that are from a different generation." pic.twitter.com/XKJPt2SyOY
On some level, it’s pretty important that this new wave of leaders takes ownership of the team and gains some separation from past B’s glory that isn’t going to help them reach those heights again moving forward.
There may not be a clear leadership line as there had been over the last 20 years for the Bruins when either Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron or Brad Marchand was the unquestioned leader of the group, but that isn’t something that’s fazing either Pastrnak or McAvoy as they take the reins of the hockey club. Instead, it’s going to be an opportunity to bring others into the leadership as incumbent Bruins like Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha, Hampus Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov will undoubtedly make their voices heard, but also new faces like Sean Kuraly, Tanner Jeannot and Mikey Eyssimont are expected to play a role as well.
“I think maybe instead of just the ‘rinse and repeat’ of what it’s been for a long time, we have to try and build it back up,” said McAvoy of Boston’s changing leadership group. “It’s different. It’s a completely different group…it’s different individuals. So it’s going to look different.
“But mostly it’s just a great opportunity, really, more than anything, to have that [leadership responsibility] sort of thrust on us to be responsible for it. I think it’s something that we look at and we’re excited about it. We’re not seeing it as more of a daunting task. It’s something that we’re just honored to be trusted with that.”
Many suspect there’s a retooling afoot with the Black and Gold that is going to put this team into a similar situation as last season, and that it will be part of a 2-3 year long range plan that will build them back to true contender status as the Washington Capitals have done over the last few seasons.
Some even believe that it’s a true rebuild with an eye toward perhaps aiming to get into the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes for a potential generational player available in the 2026 NHL Draft that will likely be one-and-done at Penn State this coming season.
But the truth is that the Bruins are very likely going to be too good to sink into the draft lottery again this coming season, particularly if top defensemen McAvoy and Lindholm stay healthy and Jeremy Swayman rebounds to form between the pipes . Sure, a key injury could send the Bruins into a downward spiral, but that just puts them in the same category as more than half the teams in the NHL that don’t have the kind of depth to be a Cup contender.
And at the end of the day, it is the Boston Bruins, and the longtime core players know there is an expectation that goes along with being a part of an Original Six team in Boston regardless of how things went last season.
“The expectation is always the same here,” said Pastrnak, coming off 43 goals and 106 points last season while playing in all 82 games for Boston. “You play for [an] Original Six [team] — they are very high, and they will always be here. So whoever is going to dress in October, it’s going to be a competitive team.
“And that’s the one message we’re going to have and we won’t accept what happened last year. So like I said, the team that’s going to dress up in October, we’re going to be very competitive.”
All of that is good news to hear from the established Bruins leaders at a time when optimism is always high on the first day that the group gets on the ice together, but the proof will be what happens once training camp and the real competition gets going.
Still, it’s all a good, encouraging start for this “new era” of the Bruins where everybody is healthy, filled with enthusiasm and determined to make sure their hockey team doesn’t sink to the bottom again this winter.