Over the course of the long Bruins’ offseason, there has been much debate and speculation over whether the Bruins will officially name a captain. Last season, Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak essentially served as co-captains with Hampus Lindholm getting the third “A.”
McAvoy thought that structure worked well.
“I thought we had a great thing with myself and Dave. We lean on each other a lot. We’ve been here a long time,” said McAvoy. “We’ve both been able to learn from the same group of guys, people that are already up in the rafters, one of them (Zdeno Chara), and the other guy is going (Patrice Bergeron). So we’re very lucky to have had those people teach us the ways and how we can try and keep the culture, even though the names are changing and I guess the generations are changing. Kids are more different now. Every time it’s different and it’s a constant evolution. But I feel like we did a good job. A lot of these guys are still in the building so we lean on them a lot. But it was successful. We did a good job together. Whatever happens in that regard, that’s out of my hands. I just know that regardless of it, whether it’s the same or different, we’re still going to do it together.”
But McAvoy gave an assurance that if the coaching and management staffs decide to put the “C” on Pastrnak’s chest, there would be no friction.
“Look, we’ve been here a long time, the two of us. Dave is going to be what I think a Hall of Famer. I think he’ll be retired here. He’s done so much,” said McAvoy. “Who he is as a person and a teammate and what he means to this organization, I love him to death. He’d be extremely deserving. Whatever happens, it’s out of my hands. But I don’t think there’d be any friction. It’s not just us. We lean on everyone. That’s the way Z did it. That’s the way Bergie did it. It’s not something you just do alone. I thought it was a good exercise last year and collaboration in how we wanted to do it together. Whatever happens, it’s not my choice.”