Bruins defenseman not worried about open captaincy, looking forward to leading with star forward

The Boston Bruins lost their captain when they traded Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers in March. It’s been a big question hanging over the franchise whether it will name a new one come the 2025-26 season.

While Boston has veteran leaders in the dressing room including David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy — both strong choices to wear the ‘C’ — it doesn’t sound like the Bruins are in any hurry to name a new captain.

“Going into this year, we’re both going to have A’s. That’s what I know,” Charlie McAvoy said of he and Pastrnak in an interview with the Boston Herald’s Steve Conroy. “I don’t think there’s any fire under them to do anything with that. And guess what? That’s totally fine.”

McAvoy added he’s been spending time with Pastrnak and that the two are going to continue to work on their leadership together to bring the new-look team closer together. Whether it’s a ‘C’ or an ‘A,’ the defenseman knows it doesn’t make a difference.

“And regardless of letters, we know that this is our team, me and him. And for however many years we get to be here, it’s going to be us two, along with a lot of other guys, right?,” McAvoy said. “But this is our baby now, me and him, and there’s nobody else that I’d rather do it with and I know we’re going to make each other better, on and off the ice.”

After the Bruins missed the playoffs this summer for the first time since 2016, they went through a number of changes. Boston hired Marco Sturm as its new coach as its first order of business, and he didn’t seem to be in any rush to name a captain.

“I think if you’re a Boston Bruin, it’s a big deal,” Sturm said in June on 98.5 The Sports Hub. I’m a coach and I’m not gonna say I’m gonna make that decision alone. I don’t want to. Again, it’s the Boston Bruins and it’s a big deal. So that’s something we’re gonna talk about it. But we both have to agree that this is the right guy.

“And we will,” he added. “But I don’t know when.”

After the Bruins traded Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle as well as Marchand at the 2025 deadline, that left Pastrnak and McAvoy with the only players to have a letter on their sweaters.

The duo of McAvoy and Pastrnak will likely have an even bigger leadership role going into the 2025-26 season, especially after the Bruins made a slew of offseason signings. And while some of them are veterans — including Sean Kuraly who spent his first five NHL seasons in Boston — Pastrnak and McAvoy have been leaders in the dressing room for years.

Now it comes during a time in which the Bruins are retooling and begin a new era of Boston hockey.