The Bruins still haven’t settled the question that has been hanging over their offseason: will they name a captain, or stick with the setup they used last year?
For now, coach Marco Sturm says the conversation is ongoing. Last season, David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy functioned as co-captains without anyone wearing the C, while Pastrnak, McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm all had A’s. That arrangement could still stay in place, but nothing has been decided yet.
“We’re still in the process,” said Sturm on Wednesday at the B’s gold tournament at Pinehills. “It’s been a lot of chatting, a lot of communication but I think it’s always better when everyone comes back and we’re all in the same place and we sit down at one table. We’ve been communicating but we’ll make a decision before the season starts.”
Sturm said the players won’t make the call, but they are being asked for their input. He described the room as straightforward and said the feedback he gets matters.
“I always talk to my players, some more than others and get a little bit of feedback on what’s happening in the room,” said Sturm. “It’s an honest group and I trust my players.
They always give me good feedback. But they’re not going to say this guy should be the captain or not.
But they give me good feedback. It’s not just us, (Don Sweeney and Cam Neely).
We listen to everyone, especially the guys in the room.”
Sturm and Neely have both left open the possibility that the Bruins simply keep things as they are. Elias Lindholm, who did not wear a letter last season, said that approach worked fine.
“I think it was good. We’ll see what happens,” said the centerman.
“I think the leadership last year did a good job. I think C-mac and Dave did some heavy lifting for sure but we tried to help them as much as possible with our routine.
A lot of us have been in the league for a while so we’ve seen different teams and leaders so we try to help them as much as possible. Then we’ll see what happens.”
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Bruins Are Suddenly Tied To A Veteran Scorer With Camp Looming
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A move like that would not just be about adding another name to the lineup, either. It could force the Bruins to rework how their bottom half of the forward group fits together, and one of the more notable ripple effects would be on players pushing for everyday roles. For a team trying to lock in its roster ahead of the season, the timing of this kind of speculation makes the next few weeks worth watching. [Read more 🡒]