David Pastrnak made no bones about the simple fact that he’s going to be his own kind of captain as the 28th player to wear the “C” in the Original Six history of the Boston Bruins.
There will be comparisons to past captains like Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron, who have been lauded as some of the best and most well-respected captains in NHL history, and there are obviously some mighty big skates to fill in terms of expectations. But the fun-loving, exuberant 30-year-old Pastrnak isn’t going to magically transform into a solemn, ultra-serious leadership persona simply because that’s the expectation with the job.
Instead, Pastrnak said he’s going to do it his way and rely on the umpteen lessons he learned from stellar leaders like Chara, Bergeron and Brad Marchand over his years as a Bruins member.
“I’ve been grateful my whole career to be learning from some unbelievable leaders and amazing hockey players and human beings,” said Pastrnak after Sunday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena. “I couldn’t be more prepared for this and I’m really excited for the responsibility, challenge. I’m ready for it.
“Everybody is different and everybody has to find their own way of leading. You can’t try to be someone else. It doesn’t work.”
This is obviously different than a year ago, when the franchise entered a new era of leadership after trading Marchand to the Florida Panthers, and they opted for Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy to essentially be co-captains as the two experienced players at the top of the leadership pyramid.
It worked well with the team piling up a 100-point playoff season and both established Bruins veterans supporting each other.
But Pastrnak showed his mettle and worthiness even in that lost season of 2024-25 when he carried the team on his shoulders in the final months of a season going nowhere, and then it was pretty clear he was the player really driving the mood and standard level in the B’s dressing room during last spring’s playoffs.
David Pastrnak didn’t mince words after that ugly start in Game 4 vs. Buffalo.
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) May 8, 2026
Good video from the Bruins’ latest episode of “Behind The B”. pic.twitter.com/DUP3elN4tI
Clearly, it’s going to be leadership by committee, as it is for any quality hockey team, with Pastrnak and McAvoy leading the way, but guys like Nikita Zadorov, Morgan Geekie, Hampus Lindholm, Tanner Jeannot, Fraser Minten, and others will support the captain as well. But for Pastrnak, it’s about the right player, the right time in his career coming off four straight 100-point seasons, and the right moment in his life as a 30-year-old father with a couple of kids and a decade of comfort and stability living in Boston as the once-young scoring superstar on the team that’s now hungry for his own Stanley Cup glory at this point in his professional career.
“For us, nothing is changing here,” said Pastrnak. “We’ve been as a group of leaders here always when I’ve been here and the guys before me, they always had it as a group leadership. It’s not gonna change, even if I’m captain. The reason I’m sitting [here] anyway is because of those guys, so we’re gonna work as a team. We continue to do that and make sure that everybody feels comfortable and welcome. It doesn’t matter if you’re a rookie or a 10-year veteran. You are always welcome here and you have a voice in this room, no matter if you have a letter on or not.”
Marco Sturm has referenced Pastrnak’s leadership style as a little different than figures like Chara and Bergeron, and perhaps closer to an Alex Ovechkin in terms of a colorful personality that translates into an effective leadership voice. It clearly worked in Washington when they won a Cup with Ovie as their signature player, backed by a strong coaching voice in Barry Trotz, and the Bruins are looking to do the same with Pastrnak as a leader distributing pucks, racking up points, and working toward building another Cup contender in Boston.
“He’s definitely not a Chara and not a Bergeron as a leader, but that’s OK,” said Sturm, who played with both captains during his time as a player on the Black and Gold. “I said that in the past. He’s a different kind of leader, very, very positive, always with a smile, always has an ear open for everyone.”
Bruins management types like Don Sweeney and Cam Neely have watched the entire career arc for Pastrnak from the time he was the 18-year-old youngest player in the NHL during his rookie season, and have watched him transform from the young phenom firebrand into the veteran that will serve the same role that iconic Hall of Fame B’s players like Chara, Bergeron, Ray Bourque, Bobby Orr and others have taken on before him.
“Watching David grow over the last number of years, I think it’s a great choice for the franchise,” said Neely. “We have a strong leadership group including Charlie McAvoy, obviously Hampus [Lindholm], [Nikita] Zadorov is in there and they’ve added [Morgan] Geekie and [Fraser] Minten and [Tanner] Jeannot, so it’s a great, strong leadership group. I think they’re in a really great position to build off the foundation of last year.
“I think they did a really good job of setting that foundation and now it’s about building off that and improving from that. We’ve added some new bodies, so we’re excited about some skill and speed in the lineup in addition to being a hard out. I think it’s going to be a great hockey season for the franchise.”
It just feels like this is Pastrnak’s time to elevate his responsibility level as the team’s best player and the tone-setter at the offensive end of the ice. Clearly there will still be some laughs with referees at times as the good-natured No. 88 has very clearly enjoyed during times in the past in his tremendously productive NHL career while serving as one of the faces of the league.
Throwback to the 2019 NHL All Star games were David Pastrnak was Captain
— Hannah | TD Garden Tomorrow | (@babybergy37) September 27, 2026
“Hey, I'm allowed to for this time I Have C!! I gotta FREAKIN’ C”
7 years later, he has been named the Captain of the Boston Bruins pic.twitter.com/F2EX42HwWd
But Pastrnak showed a little something in the captain realm when he challenged Matthew Tkachuk to a fight in the playoffs a few years ago while doing something that clearly wasn’t in his comfort zone. It is all in there with the Bruins most prolific player and now the challenge has been set for Pastrnak to be that tone-setting, play-by-example guy day in and day out while doing it in his own inimitable way as he guides the B’s to this new chapter in the team’s history.