George Wood/Getty Images/Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
The Boston Bruins haven’t had a captain since Brad Marchand was traded in 2025, but a new player will be rocking the “C’ when the upcoming season gets underway. The team hasn’t officially announced who it will be, but the reveal may have been spoiled courtesy of a squad in the Premier League.
Most NHL teams elect to name a designated captain who serves as their leader both on and off the ice. Players who earn the right to play with a “C” on their jersey view it as an honor that reflects their role as a leader in the locker room, and it also grants them the right to have discussions with referees during games (a privilege that’s exclusive to captains and the alternates who rock an “A”).
27 skaters have served as the captain for the Boston Bruins since they played their inaugural season a little over a century ago, and that list is filled with legendary names and Hall of Famers (both current and future) including Ray Bourque, Johnny Bucyk, Zdeno Chara, and Patrice Bergeron.
In 2023, Brad Marchand was tapped to replace the last man on the list in that role following his retirement, but the Bruins found themselves without a captain when he was traded to the Panthers in 2025.
The team declined to name a new one last year, but GM Don Sweeney confirmed they’ll have one when the 2025-26 campaign gets underway. It’s still unclear who it will be, but some fans are convinced it was spoiled in a now-deleted post from a soccer team.
Tottenham Hotspur may have revealed David Pastrnak is the new captain of the Bruins after he posed with Xavi Simons
There are only two viable candidates to become the next captain of the Boston Bruins. The first is Charlie McAvoy, the defenseman who’s gearing up for his tenth season with the only franchise he’s played for, and David Pastrnak, the star forward who’s on the verge of his 13th.
Fans of the teams will be happy with the pick regardless of who gets the nod, and while it’s unclear when it will be announced, Sweeny says the choice will be shared before the Bruins kick off the season on home ice against the Rangers on September 29th.
There’s little doubt the team is planning on some fanfare for the reveal, but it may have been undermined by Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs midfielder Xavi Simons recently traveled to Boston for a training camp as he recovers from an ACL injury he suffered earlier this year, and he linked up with Pastrnak after arriving. The two men posed for a picture in the Bruins locker room, and the soccer club shared the photo in a post where it referred to the winger as the “captain” of the Bruins.
The post disappeared after fans began to speculate that Tottenham had inadvertently leaked the news of his pending captaincy, although there’s obviously a chance the admin behind it was misinformed or referring to his role as an alternate last season.
The team has declined to repost the image with a different caption and has not addressed the original one as of this writing. At the end of the day, the decision comes down to a coin flip, but it will still be hard to forget about if Pastrnak is ultimately selected.