Bruins
“The position modified slightly bit, you lead extra. However you simply attempt to keep being your self.”
The Bruins’ actions throughout Friday’s NHL commerce deadline did greater than uproot a number of key cogs on Boston’s depth chart.
It additionally overhauled Boston’s management hierarchy, with Brad Marchand’s commerce to Florida making him the primary Bruins captain dealt since Joe Thornton in November 2005.
Past Marchand’s seniority as a 16-year NHL vet with a Stanley Cup on his resume, each Charlie Coyle and Brandon Carlo donned the “A” on their sweaters at occasions as the subsequent tier of management.
Because the Bruins choose up the items and chart out their retool shifting ahead, Don Sweeney acknowledged on Friday that the onus now falls on a subsequent technology of Bruins stars to pave the trail forward.
“I imply, we now have to be very sensible and sincere with ourselves to say — okay, we’ve kind of shaken up the management a part of what this group has been and the way it’s grown alongside,” Sweeney mentioned Friday. “ We’ve accomplished that. Now we now have to be hellbent on discovering the individuals that may complement that.”
Whereas Sweeney and his workers look to additional increase a roster in transition, the load of main this reworked dressing room now falls on David Pastrnak, now anointed because the longest-tenured Bruin.
“The work ethic and the compete degree must be excessive,” Pastrnak mentioned of the expectations in place for this roster shifting ahead. “And I assumed it was excessive. It’s a tricky sport, fast turnaround in Tampa, and the compete degree was there.
“We performed quick, we performed for one another, very pulled-in as a gaggle. After the final sport, I used to be very pleased with the group, the way in which we performed in Tampa. And that’s the recipe for the remainder of the 12 months. We’re gonna should play like that each single sport and see the place it takes us. We’re by no means gonna lose hope, and we’re gonna struggle until the top. But in addition, we’re constructing for one thing previous this season.”
Past Boston’s slim odds of clinching a playoff berth, the first focus for the Bruins over their last 17 regular-season video games doubtless revolves round how newcomers like Casey Mittelstadt and prospects like Fraser Minten can develop into elevated roles.
However these subsequent six weeks may also provide a possibility for a veteran in Pastrnak to proceed to entrench himself as a pacesetter in Boston’s room.
However even with Pastrnak’s standing as Boston’s most impactful participant — in addition to one of many few obtainable star skills on account of Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm’s accidents — Pastrnak shouldn’t be specializing in Boston’s emptiness at captain.
“I don’t give it some thought, actually,” Pastrnak mentioned after Monday’s follow at Warrior Ice Area. “I bought the ‘A’ and I haven’t modified a bit. The position modified slightly bit, you lead extra. However you simply attempt to keep being your self. Proper now, we now have 17 video games left and that’s my predominant focus to construct on. We performed fairly good hockey the final two video games, and that must be our commonplace for the remainder of the season.”
Whereas Pastrnak has lengthy led the way in which for Boston on the ice because of his playmaking capabilities (60 factors in his final 42 video games), interim head coach Joe Sacco believes that Pastrnak’s expertise whereas studying from a number of former captains has ready him for this bigger position.
“He’s been lucky as a result of he’s been right here a very long time, and he’s performed with [Zdeno] Chara, who was a captain. He performed with [Patrice Bergeron], who was a captain. He noticed Marshy. So I feel for David, he’s had the power to see these guys lead and study from them,” Sacco mentioned of Pastrnak. “And with among the different gamers that we now have now who weren’t right here — we’re going to see, proper?
“We’re going to see who can take that subsequent step in that position. And we’re not in search of individuals to be somebody that they’re not, proper? I feel management comes internally. You both have it otherwise you don’t. Some individuals lead by instance, some are extra vocal, nevertheless it’s simply an space that we’ll proceed to deal with as we transfer ahead right here.”
Pastrnak has grown in a number of methods since he first arrived within the NHL as an scrawny 18-year-old winger in November 2014.
However whilst he probably positions to get a “C” stamped on his sweater in 2025, Pastrnak careworn that he isn’t seeking to change his method as a participant or how he conducts himself.
“With all of the expertise I’ve discovered, and from these guys, it’s superb. And I couldn’t be extra grateful for the alternatives I had and I bought right here and the way in which I grew,” he mentioned. “However on the similar time, there’s a purpose I bought to the place the place I’m at.
“I’ll by no means change, regardless of if I play NHL or if I’m nonetheless the 10-year previous child enjoying hockey. For me, I don’t need to change due to the place I’m in, how a lot cash I make or stuff like that. So simply being myself is likely one of the most essential issues in life for me.”
Join the Immediately e-newsletter
Get all the pieces it is advisable know to begin your day, delivered proper to your inbox each morning.
