The Boston Bruins have named David Pastrnak as the next captain of the franchise.
The Boston Bruins unveiled David Pastrnak as the 28th captain in franchise history. The club announced the announcement of his captaincy with a video on social media, highlighting the legacy of leaders in the Bruins' history.
Pastrnak, 30, earns the 'C' going into his 13th campaign in Boston, the team that selected him 25th overall in the 2014 NHL draft.
The right winger has been around Boston long enough to understand the Bruins culture that has been enforced from players before him. Previous captains such as Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara all paved the way and represented the team with strong leadership, and that torch is moved on to Pastrnak now.
Defenseman Charlie McAvoy also would've been a great candidate to be handed the 'C' in Boston. But leading up to this announcement in the off-season, he said there's no friction between the vacant captaincy.
"(Pastrnak) would be extremely deserving," McAvoy said. "Whatever happens, it’s out of my hands, but I don’t think there would be any friction. … We lean on everybody.
Since then, the Czech has played 833 regular-season games for the Bruins, scoring 420 goals and 933 points, likely reaching the 1,000-point plateau if he can remain healthy for 2026-27.
Last season, he notched 100 points for the fourth straight time, scoring 29 goals and providing 71 assists. That campaign was an example of Pastrnak's leadership ability on the ice.
On paper, the Bruins weren't the same team they used to be in the Bergeron and Marchand era. They don't particularly have a No. 1 center and lack creativity up front.
Pastrnak has been known to be an elite goal-scorer, reaching 40-plus goals in four straight seasons leading up to 2025-26, including a 61-goal campaign in 2022-23. But last season, he took on a different role to help the Bruins push for the post-season.
He sacrificed his goal-scoring prowess to be a bit more like a playmaker. This way, he was able to help his teammates around him, making them better players. With Pastrnak's career-high in assists, Boston was able to get into the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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