Will Brad Marchand Step Up as Captain of the Bruins?

By Max Kerrigan

After the best regular season of all time and an unfortunate first round of the playoffs, the Boston Bruins entered the offseason with a lot of questions. With multiple stars needing new contracts and an aging core many were worried about the Bruins's future. Long-time Bruins David Krechi and captain Patrice Bergeron ended their respective one-year deals and entered the offseason with questions about whether they were going to retire. Just a few weeks later both had announced they were stepping away from the game and moving on to new prospects in their lives, leaving the question of who was going to be the new captain of the Boston Bruins. The immediate thought was veteran Brad Marchand, who has had a stellar career with the Bruins but had declined a little since his 100-point season in the 2018-2019 season. Marchand has played 13 seasons for the Bruins five of which he served as an assistant captain and a leader for the team. Along with Marchand two younger guys, David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy came to mind when trying to decide on a captain. Both have been with the Bruins their entire career and both have proved to be stars in the NHL, but ultimately bruins management decided to name Marchand the captain moving forward going into the 2024 season. Marchand was the right choice. Through his years with the Bruins, he has not only proved to be productive breaking the elusive 100-point margin in 2019, but also proven to be a great locker room guy, however, this choice did not come without some backlash. Marchand is known to be a dirty player, he has been suspended multiple times throughout his career and even licked players on the ice trying to get into their heads. In the 2024 season, Marchand has already attempted to get into the head of NHL prospect Connor Bedard, and for the rest of his career, he will likely continue to be a menace to opposing players. He is one of the guys who you hate when he is not on your team, but love when he is on your team. When asked about what it was like playing with one of the biggest pests in the game (Marchand) former bruin Tyler Bertuzzi responded "he's a nice guy,” and “He's easy to get along with and he's a lot of fun to be around.” Bertuzzi went on to say “I know he is just full of sh*t now” when referring to Marchands on ice attempts to get in the heads of opposing players. He is beloved by teammates and fans of the Bruins and that is the type of guy you want to lead your team. As we look forward to the young NHL season we still do not know how this move will turn out, but 10 games into the season the Bruins are 9-0-1 and the decision has proved to be a good one.