BRIGHTON – It certainly feels like the Boston Bruins are not going to go a second season without officially naming a captain for their team.
“We’ve been communicating, but we’ll make a decision here before the season starts, and we go from there,” said Marco Sturm during the Boston Bruins Foundation Golf Tournament earlier this week. “I always talk to my players, and some more than others, and kind of get a little bit of feedback what is happening in the room. It’s an honest group and I trust my players, and they always give me good feedback. We listen to everyone and especially the guys in the room.”
It also feels like the choice is an obvious one between Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak after both players essentially served as co-captains with an “A” on their respective sweaters last season.
There’s obviously also a second tier of important leaders on the team with guys like Nikita Zadorov, Hampus Lindholm, Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie and even Jeremy Swayman stepping into that lane, but it’s clear that No. 73 and No. 88 are the big dogs in the B’s room.
Pastrnak feels like the leader in the clubhouse coming off a season where he was very clearly the most influential voice in the B’s dressing room and given the way last postseason ended with McAvoy losing his cool at a bad time leading to a six-game suspension to start this season. None of it will change the way both veteran players are well-respected in their own locker room and McAvoy assured there isn’t going to be any friction, or hard feelings, regardless of what happens with any looming captaincy decision with the Black and Gold.
“Yeah, I mean, I thought we had a great thing [last year],” said McAvoy after captain’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena on Thursday. “Myself and Dave…we leaned on each other a lot. We’ve both been here a long time. We’ve both been able to learn from the same group of guys, the same people that are already up in the rafters; one of them, and the other guy is going [this year]. So we’re very lucky to have had those people teach us the ways and how we can try and keep the culture, even though the names are changing, generations are changing.
“Dave’s gonna be what I think is a Hall of Famer. I think he’ll be retired here. He’s done so much, like who he is as a person, as a teammate, and what he means to this organization and team. I love him to death, and he would be extremely deserving. Whatever happens, it’s out of my hands. But I don’t think there would be any friction.”
Pastrnak himself hasn’t weighed in yet, as he was in Las Vegas last week during the national NHL media tour, but it’s not going to be shocking if his answer is exactly the same until a time in the near future when the Bruins officially name the 28th captain in Black and Gold franchise history.
That could be happening sooner rather than later.
ONE TIMERS
*The Bruins hope that the condition of Elias Lindholm’s back is not going to