Bruins have important offseason needs, naming a captain isn’t one of them

BOSTON — The Bruins have some issues that need addressing during the offseason if they want to get better.

Not having a captain isn’t one of them.

On Wednesday at TD Garden, Don Sweeney was asked about it. So was Cam Neely. Three days before, Marco Sturm fielded questions on the topic. And shortly after that David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, the two leading candidates to fill the vacancy, were pressed for their thoughts too.

Since former captain Brad Marchand was traded in March 2025, the Bruins’ captain, or lack thereof, has been obsessively over-scrutinized.

It’s a manufactured controversy.

In 2025-26, McAvoy, Pastrnak and Hampus Lindholm were each alternate captains instead of naming a single captain. That’s unusual in the NHL, but not unheard of. The reasoning made sense in Boston and it worked.

The Bruins took a huge step forward. They reestablished the culture that has defined the franchise for the last 20 years. There is no reason to mess with that.

In the National Hockey League, more than in any other sport, the reverence for being a captain borders on mythical. The “C” on a player’s jersey affords him instant respect. But it matters because leadership is important. Great hockey teams have great leadership. That can be one guy. But it doesn’t have to be.

Leadership was a strength for the 2025-26 Bruins. Pastrnak and McAvoy have different leadership strengths, but both offered something valuable. They worked well together and took it seriously. Their combined effort helped restore the team’s culture.

Both McAvoy and Pastrnak have evolved into their leadership roles and have room to grow further. But right now they’re equals. Co-captains without the official title. Smartly, Marco Sturm saw no need to solve a non-problem.

“I always said, I wanted a captain, but now, being through that first time, me as a head coach, not having a captain, and I thought it went real well,” he said. “I just, maybe because guys were really close, the leadership group, I thought they did a good job overall. Everyone had their input. There was no outsider. We always kept it really tight. So I actually didn’t mind it. But having said that, that will be more of a conversation to have with Don (Sweeney), how we are going to move forward. But personally, I liked how we handled, and especially the players, how they handled this situation all year long.”