Charlie McAvoy says there’s no ‘friction’ with David Pastrnak over Bruins captaincy

One of the top storylines entering Bruins training camp this week is whether or not Boston will eventually name a captain during the 2026-27 season.

The Bruins have not had a captain since the team traded Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers on March 7, 2025 — with a leadership group led by David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy leading an overhauled dressing room since then.

Bruins president Cam Neely did present a scenario where Boston — confident in their current leadership hierarchy after last year’s brief playoff run — doesn’t name a captain for the second year in a row, opting for more of a “by committee” approach.

But Bruins head Marco Sturm acknowledged last week that conversations remain ongoing between him, Boston’s top brass, and players regarding the team’s next captain — with both Pastrnak and McAvoy standing as the two most obvious candidates to get the “C” stitched on their sweater.

“We’re still in the process. It’s been a lot of chatting, a lot of communication, but I think it’s always better when everyone comes back, and back in Boston, back in the same place, and sit down at one table,” Sturm said. “And like I said, we’ve been communicating, but we’ll make a decision here before the season starts and we go from there.”

​Speaking to reporters last week, McAvoy praised Pastrnak’s leadership and the way the duo took the reins as Boston’s go-to players alongside a reworked leadership group that also included Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, and others.

“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.”

Given both Pastrnak and McAvoy’s established credentials, extended tenures with the franchise, and the seemingly close competition when it comes to both players vying for the “C”, could there be bitterness or any sort of “friction” generated for whichever player doesn’t earn the captaincy?

McAvoy pushed back against such a question at Warrior Ice Arena — noting that there have been several other established leaders with the Bruins who either didn’t wear the C or had to wait a long time to earn such a title.

“No, no, I don’t,” McAvoy said. “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.