Marco Sturm shares his thoughts on what Bruins are looking for with next captain
Boston Bruins
“He’s a totally different leader as a Bergeron or Chara. Totally different. Which is absolutely fine.”
Bruins president Cam Neely raised a few eyebrows last month when he opened the door for Boston not to name a captain at the start of the 2026-27 season.
Boston has not had a captain in place since the club traded Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers on March 7, 2025, with a revamped leadership group led by David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy holding court in the dressing room during the 2025-26 campaign.
Bruins head coach Marco Sturm echoed a similar sentiment last week when asked about the urgency of stitching a “C” on a sweater before a new season of hockey begins.
“We will probably sit down here shortly,” Sturm told Evan Marinofsky on the “Bruins Beat” podcast last week. “End of the day, I would like, at one point, I don’t know when, I like to have a captain. I don’t know if it’s going to happen now or later, whatever it is, but it’s definitely something; as a coach, you always rely on a guy like that.”
When it comes to candidates, both Pastrnak and McAvoy stand at the forefront of potential Bruins captains. The two are the longest-tenured players in Boston’s room and two of the best at their respective positions.
Pastrnak — known for his highlight-reel offensive prowess and his affable personality — might be a departure from some of the other captains who have led Boston’s roster in previous generations of Bruins hockey.
But, Sturm harped on the need for players — especially those in leadership positions — to shift their mindset and adapt to the changing dynamics across the game of hockey.
“One of the problems and issues we have here in Boston is that we had a guy like [Patrice] Bergeron, that we had a guy like [Zdeno] Chara, or even Ray Bourque, you name it. We had such good, high-quality captains here,” Sturm told Marinofsky. “So everyone thinks automatically, ‘oh, we need a guy like him,’ but that’s different. Those guys are gone. Over the course, we talked about the young guys. It’s a new generation; they’re different now.”
As the Bruins continue their retool, Boston’s dressing room is expected to welcome an influx of younger players in the coming years in hopes of identifying future franchise pillars to pair with the likes of Pastrnak and McAvoy.
Pastrnak isn’t exactly a youngster in today’s NHL at 30 years old. But, it’s not much of a surprise that James Hagens’ stall at TD Garden is right next to Boston’s top winger — while Pastrnak found plenty of success driving play next to a pair of younger forwards in Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov last year.
“If you look at our guys now, I think David, he’s a totally different leader as a Bergeron or Chara. Totally different. Which is absolutely fine,” Sturm said. “I played with a guy like [Alex] Ovechkin. He’s like that. He’s totally different. [That] doesn’t mean he’s a bad leader; he just does things differently. So we always got to remember that, it’s a different time right now.”
Be it Pastrnak, McAvoy, or another player in Boston’s room, Sturm stressed, the Bruins will be in good hands with their leadership core in 2026-27 — regardless of whether or not one player is singled out as captain this fall.
“I do believe we have good leaders in our locker room. For me, personally, as a coach, he needs a strong voice in the room, obviously, but also who helps me out,” Sturm said. “He should be the connection between coaches and also for the players in a lot of different areas of the game; on ice, off ice, you name it. Also, who can stay very calm during stressful moments.”
“I do believe [Don Sweeney] set the tone after that bad season they had. They challenged, a little bit, that leadership group. I do believe they worked on it last summer, and they came back as a unit already, so that was nice to see, and then they took off. I’m actually very proud of these guys, how they handled all season long, and also always have to answer those questions about the captaincy. They kept everything under control all year long.”
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