The next Bruins captain should be a no-brainer.
When the Boston Bruins traded their captain, Brad Marchand, at the trade deadline on March 7 to the Florida Panthers, that left a leadership void in the locker room. Or so we thought, but it doesn’t appear to be that way.
First and foremost, Marchand could still return to Boston in free agency this summer, and if he does, he could resume his duties as the captain. He could also not return and choose to go somewhere else in free agency, but regardless, the time is going to come in the not-too-distant future when they will need to name their next leader, and it appears the decision will be, well, it should be, a no-brainer.
The Boston Bruins' next captain should be David Pastrnak
There are a couple of different avenues that the Bruins could take with this, but it should be one of the easier decisions they have made. Since Marchand was traded, Pastrnak has been the one voice in the locker room who has said all the right things, and that was never more evident than after Tuesday night’s 7-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. Pastrnak spoke with the NESN broadcast after the game and said the following after collecting his 100th point of the season.
That’s leadership material right there. Has this been a frustrating year for Pastrnak and the Bruins? Yes, it has. However, everything has remained positive both on and off the ice amid a down season that spiraled out of control from the opening face-off against the Florida Panthers in the season-opener back in October.
There is only one other choice that Boston should consider, and that is Charlie McAvoy. It would be another good choice, but nothing against the Bruins' top defenseman. The torch of leadership should be passed to Pastrnak for the future, and honestly, it should be a no-brainer of a decision for an organization that doesn’t always make them that way. He just wants to win the Stanley Cup, and the Bruins should name him the leader before too long.
