By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter / X @RyanJBosworth
It seems as if all signs are pointing toward the Bruins not appointing someone to don the ‘C,’ according to Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald in an interview with Bruins alternate captain Charlie McAvoy.
“Going into this year, we’re both going to have A’s. That’s what I know,” McAvoy told Conroy in the interview. He would go on to add that “Me and Pasta are spending the time together, which I’ve found incredible, learning about him a little bit more, about him as a leader. Just what I’ll say on that front is I love that we’re going to be able to take this on together. And regardless of letters, we know that this is our team, me and him.”
McAvoy and Pastrnak are certainly at the head of the ship, but there’s one more alternate captain ‘A’ that should be worn. After the trading away of captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers, only McAvoy and Pastrnak wore letters. In times of Marchand’s and McAvoy’s absence during the season, the letters were assigned to players like former defenseman Brandon Carlo and former forward Charlie Coyle.
Now, the rising question: who should wear the third ‘A?’ It’s clear head coach Marco Sturm wants to see the leadership this season for himself before making a decision on who’ll don the ‘C,’ so who should join Pastrnak and McAvoy on the leadership corps wearing the ‘A?’
The most likely scenario is there’ll be a rotating third alternate captain. Rotating between more than one alternate captain at home and on the road could also shine a light on someone that may prove to be an unlikely leader for the Bruins.
Who seems most likely to be next on the totem pole is Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm. Lindholm, 31, is heading into his 4th season with the Boston Bruins after being acquired at the 2022 Trade Deadline.
The Swedish defenseman only played 17 games in the 2024-25 season, as he fractured his knee cap after blocking a shot, which would go on to be a major blow to the Bruins blue line and serve as a major reason they weren’t as competitive as they would’ve liked. He wouldn’t return to the lineup for the rest of the season, but is 100 percent for training camp, which starts on September 17th.
Who may come as a surprise to wear the third ‘A’ in addition to Lindholm, is defenseman Nikita Zadorov. Zadorov was signed when free agency opened in July of 2024. The 30 year old defender from Moscow, Russia had a rough start to the 2024-25 season, but tidied things up as the season went on and really stepped into a leadership role after the departure of so many core players at the 2025 trade deadline.
Through 81 games in the Black and Gold, Zadorov posted 4-18-22 and a plus/minus of +25. He started the year in the penalty box and amassed 145 minutes in the box throughout the season, but proved to be reliable on the backend as the season went on. At the end-of-season presser, former interim head coach Joe Sacco said Zadorov stepped up ‘vocally’ down the stretch.
There’s yet to be an announcement as to who’ll wear the third ‘A,’ but the benefit of having no official captain is players are given the opportunity to step up and prove themselves as a leader, as we saw in several Bruins players down the stretch. This’ll allow mainstays on the roster to continue forming the new core after the departure of so many key pieces at last years’ trade deadline. Regardless of letters, both Lindholm and Zadorov are valuable pieces to the Bruins core and have proven themselves as leaders.
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