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 be an ongoing narrative this season after the veteran center revealed that it had been nagging at him in each of the last two seasons. It didn’t stop Lindholm from playing for Team Sweden in the Olympics last winter and he did play all 82 games for the Black and Gold last season, but the thinking was that chronic back woes at least partially played into the underwhelming offensive numbers Lindholm has posted in each of his first two seasons with Boston.
Unfortunately for him it has also lowered the expectations for the player in terms of lineup placement with a lack of a No. 1 center on the roster, but that’s a conversation Lindholm is hoping to change this upcoming season if he can keep in a better spot physically.
“It’s good…obviously a couple of months off now [in the summer] and it feels good,” said Lindholm at the Boston Bruins Foundation golf tournament at Pinehills Country Club on Wednesday morning. “A lot less heavy weights and a lot of rehab, and a lot of focus on making my body feel good. It’s kind of hard to know right now, but it’s been a good summer, and my body feels ready to go.
“For now, it feels good and I’m excited for the season.”
For his part, Sturm made it known a couple of weeks ago while on the Bruins Beat podcast that he’s hopeful Lindholm can get some of his juice back and revert to the player that posted big numbers in Calgary centering Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk on a very effective top forward line.
“I do think so, personally. I really hope so,” said Sturm. “I can’t look inside his body, but I think he says he felt good, had a good summer. Started skating again [with] no complaints, but hopefully it’s going to stay like that. For me he’s still a reliable centerman who I trust.
“Yes, a lot of people would like him to score more goals and have more points, I get that, we all want that. [Lindholm] wants it, too. But also, he does a lot of good things. Plays a 200-foot, two-way game. We obviously want to get more out of him, but we don’t forget that he does a lot of good things that people don’t even see. He’s still a big part of our team, and if we could get more out of him that would be good.”
Whatever can be said about Lindholm, he’s their best faceoff guy in the middle and could be an intriguing add in a bottom-6 capacity where he could add more of an offensive dimension to a lower forward group.
*Good news for Bruins prospect and former UMass standout Dans Locmelis as he’s fully recovered from last season’s shoulder surgery and is a full “go” for Bruins rookie camp underway in Buffalo. Locmelis said he injured his shoulder early last season and soldiered through most of the AHL year to play with Team Latvia in the Winter Olympics, but went under the knife shortly thereafter, shutting down the rest of last season.
There are zero restrictions for Locmelis at this point, and he’s just looking forward to getting a head start on NHL camp.
“I just had to be two steps ahead of everyone, I felt like,” said Locmelis of the difficulty playing with a shoulder that was less than 100 percent for much of last season. “Like, going into battles [while protecting it], but I wanted to come back healthy out of it. So I had to be two steps ahead of it, and yeah, I feel like it’s going to help me in the future.”
Locmelis is expected to start the season in Providence but remains very high on Boston’s prospect list and should be one of the first names called from the P-Bruins if injuries hit Boston up front this season.
*Charlie McAvoy finally got to talk through his stick-swinging incident on Zach Benson at the end of Boston’s playoff series -- and the subsequent six-game suspension for his actions -- while skating at captain’s practice this past week. A summer of reflection had the Bruins defenseman seemingly at peace with the league’s pretty harsh decision and also gave him time to dig into his accountability for losing his cool after a dangerous slew foot.
“I lost my wits to a certain degree, and I have regrets about that. It is something that I have to learn from because it can’t happen for myself and the team,” said McAvoy. “And it won’t ever. I’m going to miss a lot of time, and there are a lot of penalties that come with it. It’s another strike on my record, which drives me crazy because that’s not who I am. But I landed myself there, and I just have to learn from these things, and try to be a better person and player
“I respect the opportunity to have gone [to the NHL] and tried to state my case and try to speak my truth on it. The reality of the situation is you’re just at the mercy of whatever they decide. It is what it is. I got closure out of it. I am just preparing the same way that I always would. It’s just been the same thing as every other summer. Just ramping up now to try to put my best foot forward on day one. Obviously, it will be a delayed start, but I’d like to hit the ground running – that’s the goal every year.”