Is Pastrnak next Bruins’ captain? His teammates praise leadership

Bruins

“I thought David was the best player in the NHL down the stretch.”

Charlie McAvoy didn’t mince words when asked about his longtime teammate David Pastrnak. 

“I thought David was the best player in the NHL down the stretch,” McAvoy said on Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena. “I don’t think I’m stepping out of line saying that, he was incredible. He led by example.” 

In a season with very few silver linings for the Bruins, Pastrnak’s continued offensive brilliance shined on an impotent forward corps. 

Despite skating on a Bruins team that ranked 27th in the league in goals scored (222) and 29th on the power play (15.2 percent), Pastrnak still placed fourth in the league in scoring with a whopping 106 points (43 goals, 63 assists). 

His 83 even-strength points led all NHLers (five more than second-place Nathan MacKinnon), while he led Boston’s second-leading scorer in Morgan Geekie by 49 points. 

Just the third Bruins player in franchise history to post three consecutive 100-point seasons, Pastrnak is a viable Hart Trophy candidate, according to teammate Jakub Lauko. 

But as impressive as it was that Pastrnak continued to shred opposing defenses on an ill-equipped Bruins team in 2024-25, his most impressive feat in a lost season might have been his growing voice as a leader on a rudderless roster. 

“He is really passionate,” defenseman Nikita Zadorov said of Pastrnak. “He cares and that’s what you want to see from guys like that. When you go on the ice, when you go to battle with him, he’s going to die for you. So, I mean, I knew that. I was close with him.

“We went for so many dinners; we talked a lot. We had a lot of long talks and everything, but I mean, you guys see it, as well. He’s a big part of this team and he is a big part of the future and it’s up to us now how to raise this level everywhere and then lead by example.”

While Pastrnak stands as a seasoned veteran in Boston’s dressing room, few expected for the star winger to be thrust into such a vocal role on this team, especially at the start of what was initially thought to be a promising season.

But by mid-March, the 28-year-old was arguably the last man standing on what was once an established leadership group. 

Both McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm were sidelined for the season due to injury. Captain Brad Marchand and longtime lineup regulars in Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo, and Trent Frederic were all traded. 

As Boston waved the white flag in hopes of greater returns in 2025-26 and beyond, Pastrnak pressed on with a revamped roster doomed to slide down the standings. 

In the 18 games after the NHL trade deadline, Pastrank scored 11 goals and 28 total points, one of the few consistent offensive conduits for Boston. 

“He led by example. He led by being, from what I’ve gathered, more vocal than he’s normally been. He did everything he could have possibly done to help this team, and he did it, and it was a joy to watch every night,” McAvoy said. of Pastrnak. “Were the results there? No, I mean, you guys are watching the same stuff, and I was, unfortunately watching as well, but I think he’s to be commended for the way that he handled himself post-deadline, at a time when we all were feeling a certain way, like everybody. 

“Well, he had a hockey game the next day, as well as another 15 or 20 after whatever it was, and and he did exceptional in all of them while being asked to do more than he’s had to do. So, yeah, I can’t say enough good things about what Pasta did for this team down the stretch.” 

While the Bruins have several pressing issues to address in 2025-26, naming a new captain is also likely somewhere on the Original Six franchise’s to-do list before the season commences in October. 

For what it’s worth, Pastrnak opted to not focus on his own place in Boston’s leadership hierarchy when asked if he wanted the “C” stitched onto his sweater next fall. 

“The leaders I had around me, it was never about who wears the ‘C’ or who wears the ‘A’. Everybody in the room is equal here and we need to make sure that that’s one of the things that we have to [find] — a group that is willing to put the work in,” Pastrnak said. “It’s not about one guy. 

“It’s going to be multiple of us and we need to be working together, and it doesn’t matter who’s going to end up wearing any letter, but it starts with a group. Everybody’s equal here no matter if you’re young, older, and that’s what it’s always been like, and we have to keep it going.”