The Bruins have plenty to think about these days, but naming a captain probably shouldn’t be near the top of the list.
Cam Neely’s recent comments kicked the conversation into gear, and the debate has naturally settled on David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy. Either one would make sense.
Jeremy Swayman, frankly, would be a reasonable choice too. But that doesn’t mean Boston needs to force a decision right now.
There’s no obvious answer here, and that’s the problem. This isn’t a Patrice Bergeron situation, where Brad Marchand felt like the natural next step after Bergeron retired.
With Pastrnak and McAvoy, the Bruins are dealing with two players who both matter deeply to the organization. Pick one, and you run the risk of sending the other the wrong message.
Would McAvoy feel overlooked if Pastrnak got the C? Would Pastrnak feel the same if the decision went the other way? Maybe nothing ugly would come from it, but it’s at least worth asking whether naming one over the other could create unnecessary tension.
That’s why the Bruins might be better off getting creative instead of rushing to crown a single leader.
Technically, the NHL doesn’t allow more than one captain at the same time, so Boston couldn’t just hand the C to both men and call it a day. But there is at least some history with a shared approach. During the 1985-86 season, after Terry O’Reilly retired, Ray Bourque and Rick Middleton alternated the C, with one wearing it at home and the other on the road.
The current rules don’t allow that exact setup now. Still, the Bruins could explore a version of it by naming one player captain for part of the season and the other for the rest. It would be a workaround, sure, but it would also avoid the awkwardness of choosing between two cornerstone players.
The one wrinkle comes later. If Boston reached the playoffs, who would wear the C then?
And if the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, who would lift it? Those are the kinds of ceremonial questions the organization would need to settle in advance.
For now, though, the simplest answer may be the best one: don’t force it. Keep things as they are and avoid creating a problem that doesn’t need to exist.
In Other News...
Bruins Roster Crunch Could Force Tough Veteran Decisions Before Camp
The Bruins are heading toward training camp with a familiar kind of problem, the kind that can complicate even a healthy roster: too many bodies in too few spots. The squeeze is showing up on the blue line and in the bottom six, where the competition for jobs already looks tight and the club has to sort out who fits, who can be moved, and how the lineup will be shaped once the games start counting.
A suspension to Charlie McAvoy only adds another wrinkle to the picture, leaving Boston to manage a defense group that is already crowded before camp even opens. With contract situations and team needs in play, there is plenty of speculation about which veterans might end up on the move, but the larger question is less about names than about how the Bruins clear space without weakening the roster they are trying to build. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Have A Growing Center Problem As Camp Decisions Loom
Boston is heading into preseason and training camp off a 100-point regular season, but the center picture is already getting crowded in a way that could shape the opening night roster. Matthew Poitras, a second-round pick who has flashed enough to stay in the conversation, is still without a deal as a restricted free agent, and that leaves one of the Bruins more intriguing young pieces in an uncertain spot just as camp decisions come due.
The squeeze is only getting tighter with Mikey Eyssimont, Alex Steeves and James Hagens all part of the discussion as Boston sorts out its depth down the middle. For a team trying to balance immediate help with long-term planning, the next move on Poitras could ripple beyond just one roster spot and force some uncomfortable choices before the preseason even gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Fraser Minten Could Change How Bruins Fans View That Trade
Fraser Minten quietly gave Bruins fans a reason to look twice at a deal that once felt more about the future than the present. In his first full NHL season in Boston, he played all 82 games and finished with 17 goals and 18 assists, a steady showing that earned him NHL Rookie of the Month honors in January and a 10th-place finish in Calder Trophy voting.
Now the conversation is shifting from what the Bruins got to what Minten might become. Analysts are already pointing to him as a breakout candidate for 2026-27, with the kind of production growth that could push him into a top-six role and put him alongside David Pastrnak, which is exactly the sort of development that can alter how a trade is remembered around here. [Read more 🡒]