Sweeney’s announcement puts an end to speculation over whether or not Boston might enter the 2026-27 campaign without a set captain for a second consecutive year — a scenario that Bruins president Cam Neely alluded to last month. 

The Bruins have not had a captain since the club traded Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers at the 2025 NHL trade deadline — with the 2025-26 campaign standing as the first year since 2001-02 where Boston completed an entire season without having a captain in place.

​Instead, Marco Sturm learned on a collective leadership group led by David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy to carry Boston toward an unexpected playoff appearance last spring — with other established veterans in Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, and Elias Lindholm also entrenching themselves as key cogs in the dressing room.

Sweeney added on Wednesday that the desire to name a captain this season was in the works well before the team reconvened this week — with Neely’s previous comments not signaling any sort of hesitancy over handing the “C” to anyone in this current leadership hierarchy.​

“I think I addressed the fact that we are going to name a captain. We took our time. We allowed the leadership [to grow] last year, and we know who’s at the forefront of that leadership group,” Sweeney said. “Cam’s reference is because there wasn’t a timetable. And being asked on the spot, there’s no reason for me to declare anything different than what I just did.

“We’ve been talking about this for a while. We know exactly what we’re going to do. And last year was a good example of allowing players that are going to be required in that leadership role to organically step forward, and we’re in a good place.”​

Both Pastrnak and McAvoy stand as the two leaders in the clubhouse to take over as captain, given their seniority as the two longest-tenured players on the roster and their standing as two of Boston’s top players.

Last week, McAvoy doled out praise for Pastrnak’s growth as a vocal presence in the dressing room — and the collaborative effort both players put forward last year to help lead a retooling roster.

“I thought we had a great thing, myself and Dave,” McAvoy said. “We lean on each other a lot. We’ve been here a long time and we’ve both been able to learn from the same group of guys, the same people who are already up in the rafters. ​

“We’re very lucky to have had those people teach us the ways and how we can try to keep the culture going even though the names are changing, the generations are changing. The kids are more different now. It’s a constant evolution, but I feel like we did a really good job.”

​McAvoy also acknowledged that there wouldn’t be any hard feelings or friction between himself and Pastrnak over losing out on the captaincy.

​Even though Boston has been anchored by established leaders like Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron for two decades, McAvoy acknowledged that several other respected, established voices have been in the Bruins’ room during that extended stretch of stability.

Be it McAvoy, Pastrnak, or another player donning the “C” moving forward, McAvoy doesn’t expect that stability and collective partnership to shift moving forward.

“No, no, I don’t. I mean, look, we’ve been here a long time, the two of us,” McAvoy said. “Dave’s going to be, I think, a Hall of Famer. I think he’ll be retired here. He’s done so much. Who he is as a person and as a teammate and what he means to this organization and team, I love him to death. He would be extremely deserving. Whatever happens, it’s out of my hands, but I don’t think there would be any friction. … We lean on everybody.

“That’s how Zee [Zdeno Chara] did it, that’s how Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] did it. It’s not something that you just do alone, so I think it was a good exercise last year and collaboration in how we wanted to do it together.”

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.