The Boston Bruins are entering unfamiliar territory this season. Following the team trading captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, the team isn’t expected to name a replacement for the veteran anytime soon. In fact, it’s entirely possible that the Bruins will opt to play the entirety of the 2025-26 season without an official captain. Despite this, the Bruins will not be without proper leadership in their locker room. This is due to the team’s history of cultivating a strong culture for decades.
For years, the Boston Bruins have operated differently than most NHL teams when it comes to leadership. While Zdeno Chara wore the captain’s “C,” he made it clear the job was never his alone. Patrice Bergeron, one of the most respected players in the league, was every bit a co-captain in practice, something Chara openly acknowledged.
“At that time, it was a great balance between me and Bergy. Patrice is just an unbelievable leader, unbelievable human being, person. Outgoing,” said Chara. “It was great for me to have him because he was what I wasn’t. And I said it, we were co-captains. It was not that I was the guy. I welcomed guys on the leadership group. We had probably five, six guys making decisions together.”
Chara would name Shawn Thornton, Mark Recchi, Andrew Ference when discussing who was part of the team’s leadership group. It’s also safe to assume that David Krejci was included. Bergeron didn’t need a “C” on his chest to define his role. His voice, professionalism, and presence set the tone inside the locker room and across the league. The Bruins’ leadership structure was built on trust and culture, not hierarchy.
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So when Bergeron eventually got the chance to wear the “C,” it was a seamless transition. The team didn’t miss a beat, and this was no accident. This promotion simply formalized what had already been true for years.
That continuity is also what made Brad Marchand’s ascension to captain feel so natural just a few seasons later. Early in his career, Marchand was a talented agitator known more for pushing boundaries than setting an example. But over time, under the guidance of Bergeron and Chara, he learned what leadership looked like at the highest level. By the time the opportunity came, he was uniquely qualified to carry the mantle — not in spite of who he was earlier in his career, but because of how far he had come.
It’s for this reason, then, that it makes sense for the Bruins to let both Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak run the show for the Bruins as alternate captains, showing the team that the letter system is more a formality than anything. The Bruins want to operate as a team, and that extends beyond just play on the ice, it also includes their leadership group.
“Going into this year, we’re both going to have A’s. That’s what I know. I don’t think there’s any fire under them to do anything with that. And guess what? That’s totally fine,” said McAvoy to Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald. “Me and Pasta are spending the time together, which I’ve found incredible, learning about him a little bit more, about him as a leader. Just what I’ll say on that front is I love that we’re going to be able to take this on together. 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? 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.” (from ‘Bruins star Charlie McAvoy eager to resume career after season cut short’ Boston Herald – 7/29/2025).
Both McAvoy and Pastrnak know they are the de facto leaders of this team. Giving either of them the “C” on their jersey would be a matter of semantics more than anything. This season will be an identity-building one for the Bruins and allowing these two to run the show as a bona fide tandem just makes sense. It also sets the tone for any future leaders in the locker room to see how the team does things behind closed doors.
While one of Pastrnak and McAvoy will undoubtedly earn the official captain title next season, it would be unfair to say that the other didn’t earn it. From here on out, this team is going to grow in Pastrnak and McAvoy’s image, both of whom got a chance to learn and grow from Chara, Bergeron and Marchand. While it’s unclear how the Bruins’ season will unfold, there should be no questions about how the team will be led from Game 1 to Game 82 and beyond.
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