The Bruins have their next captain, and the job goes to the player who has become the face of the franchise’s present-day attack.
On Sunday morning, Boston announced that David Pastrnak is the 28th captain in team history, stepping into the role after Brad Marchand. The club had been without a captain since March 7, 2025, a stretch that ranks as the second-longest in franchise history without one, trailing only the six-year gap from 1967 to 1973.
Pastrnak’s rise to the C feels like the natural next step for a player who has spent his entire career in Boston. The Bruins took the Havirov, Czechia native in the first round of the 2014 draft at No. 25 overall, and after a brief stop in Providence, he made his NHL debut on November 24, 2014, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. His first two goals followed in a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on January 10, 2015.
Now 29, Pastrnak has built a résumé that already puts him among the most productive Bruins ever. He has 933 points, with 420 goals and 513 assists, in 833 games, which places him sixth on the franchise’s all-time list. In the playoffs, he has added 94 points, coming in 96 games.
The goal-scoring numbers stand out even more. Pastrnak has eight 30-goal seasons, tying him for first in Bruins history, and he shares second place in franchise history with five 40-goal seasons.
He is also 11th among active NHL skaters in career goals. In 2022-23, he became only the second player to score 60 goals in a season, finishing with 61 and joining Phil Esposito.
His production has remained elite into the last season as well. Pastrnak posted 100 points for the fourth straight year, and he is one of only three skaters in franchise history to reach that mark.
The new captain is also the longest-tenured player on the roster, with a Bruins career that has already overlapped with three previous captains: Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara. He has worn an alternate captain’s letter since the 2021-22 season.
Boston’s captaincy now passes to a player joining a notable line of predecessors. Pastrnak becomes the 28th captain in a franchise history that includes 16 Hockey Hall of Famers and nine retired numbers.
That list stretches from Marchand, who held the role from 2023-25, back through Bergeron, Chara, Joe Thornton, Jason Allison, Ray Bourque and a long line of Bruins icons that includes Johnny Bucyk, Terry O’Reilly, Wayne Cashman, Leo Boivin, Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer, Jack Crawford, Bill Cowley, Ralph ‘Cooney’ Weiland, Red Beattie, Eddie Shore, Nels Stewart, Marty Barry, Aubrey ‘Dit’ Clapper, George Owen, Lionel Hitchman and Sprague Cleghorn.
Pastrnak’s leadership profile also extends beyond Boston. He served as an alternate captain for Team Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics and has appeared in six World Championships. He has represented the Bruins at four NHL All-Star Games and was named captain in 2020, when he won MVP.
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DiPietro took advantage of it in camp and preseason, where he put together the kind of showing that made the backup picture more interesting than it has been in a while. For a Bruins team looking to sort out the goal crease after last springs disappointment, having a second goaltender who earned the job on merit gives the season a little more stability, even if the long-term questions around the position are still very much part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]