Don Sweeney Sheds Light On Bruins’ Plan For Vacant Captaincy

There hasn’t been much debate about who would or should wear the captain’s “C” for the Bruins in recent years.

Now, there’s a question mark.

In fact, it sounds like it’s not a certainty the Bruins will even fill their vacant captaincy ahead of the 2025-26 season.

There’s plenty of time to make that decision, but B’s general manager Don Sweeney revealed the team’s thinking about the “C” when he recently appeared on the “100% Hockey” podcast with John Shannon and Daren Millard. If Boston has any inclination as to the direction it might be leaning after trading previous captain Brad Marchand at the deadline, Sweeney wasn’t willing to give that up at this moment.

“We’re gonna go through that process, as well, and make that (determination) organizationally whether that’s the best decision for us,” Sweeney said on the podcast. “I’ve described the fact that we need to reestablish what our leadership group is. Obviously, over the course of the last three years, we’ve had a lot of turnover and I believe it’s an organic situation and one that’s not forced.”

Bruins fans of a certain age obviously remember Zdeno Chara’s long reign as the captain, and for some, that might feel like just yesterday. Once Chara was gone, Patrice Bergeron was the natural successor, and the same was largely true for Marchand after Bergeron retired.

Veteran leadership has been a hallmark for the Bruins during this era, and Boston has no shortage of capable candidates despite the team’s performance this past season. David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy stand out as obvious front-runners if the team is ready to make that difficult decision.

“We have some great guys that are looking forward to filling those voids,” Sweeney added. “Peel back a year ago, I thought a lot of this transition was going to happen a year ago with the departure of Patrice. … Some of the things guys were going through, we had a difficult time having that galvanized leadership approach to things, and we need to go about getting back to reestablishing that.”

The first order of business for the Bruins, though, is to find their next head coach, another decision for which there is no shortage of capable options.