By the time David Pastrnak was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 2014, the team had won a Stanley Cup and was in the midst of fighting to get back to the top of the NHL every season. The team missed the playoffs in his first two NHL seasons but then made the postseason for eight straight seasons, with the same goal of bringing the Cup back to Boston always driving the team.

Last year, though, things changed. By sending away team captain Brad Marchand and veterans Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic and Brandon Carlo at the trade deadline, the Bruins waved the white flag, eventually finishing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

And without major additions in free agency, the Bruins are sure to have low expectations from most people on the outside of the Bruins’ dressing room.

Inside that room, though, Pastrnak is telling a different story.

“The expectations are always the same here. When you play for an Original Six [team], they are always high and they always will be here,” Pastrnak told the media on Tuesday. “So whoever’s going to dress up in October, it’s going to be a competitive team. And that’s the one message we’re gonna have. We won’t accept what happened last year.”

“Expectations are always the same here. You play for an Original Six, they are always high and they always will be…we won’t accept what happened last year. The team that’s going to dress in October is going to be very competitive.” – @pastrnak96 after today’s Captains Practice pic.twitter.com/LgV0DxPFCG

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) September 2, 2025

Pastrnak was speaking after a captain’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena, though that may be a bit of a misnomer. The team didn’t name a captain to replace Marchand last year, and the team has yet to do so this offseason. For now, Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy remain as alternate captains, and they’ll be looked upon to lead the current group the way that Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara did for the past two decades though.

Likewise, the team will be hearing from a new voice in head coach Marco Sturm. The former Bruins winger was hired to replace interim coach Joe Sacco, who of course replaced Jim Montgomery after his early-season firing last year.

McAvoy, though, noted that while some of the messages may remain the same, the actual messaging might change.

“I think we kind of did stop and take an acknowledgment of it is a new day and age. We’re trying to usher in a new group of guys that are from a different generation,” McAvoy said before letting slip a swear in disbelief at the way he was aging himself.

“We’re not that old. But the reality is it is a little bit different times. Maybe some of the things that went, how we were molded by the group in front of us is not necessarily how we can reach the younger guys the best. So we’re taking that into account, and I think you always gotta be learning on the fly.”

The approach may change, but ultimately McAvoy expressed confidence in the plan the Bruins have in place.

“Maybe instead of just the rinse-repeat of what it’s been for a long time … we have to try and build it back up. It’s different,” he said. “It’s a completely different group. It’s different individuals, so it’s going to look different. But I guess mostly it’s just a great opportunity really, more than anything, to have that sort of thrust on us to be responsible for it.

“I think it’s something that we look at and we’re excited about and not see it as more of a daunting task. It’s something that we’re just honored to be trusted with that.”