David Pastrnak "humbled and honored" to be named Boston Bruins captain

The Boston Bruins named David Pastrnak the 28th captain in franchise history on Sunday. The Bruins did not have a captain last season.

"Obviously very grateful and humbled and honored to be the captain and obviously I recognize all of the responsibility that comes with it," Pastrnak said at a press conference on Sunday. "My biggest goal is to be best version for the team and the Bruins organization."

The forward said he learned he was being named captain in a meeting "a couple days ago" with Bruins President Cam Neely and General Manager Don Sweeney.

Originally selected by the Bruins in the first round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Pastrnak joins an impressive list of captains including his former teammates Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara. Marchand was the last captain of the team from 2023-2025 before he was traded to the Florida Panthers. 

"What I also learned is everybody is different, right," Pastrnak said. "Everybody has to find their own way of leading, and you can't try to be someone else; it doesn't work. I've been grateful in my whole career to be learning from some unbelievable leaders and amazing hockey players and human beings."

Pastrnak, 30, is entering his 13th season with the Bruins. He has skated in 833 career games, recording 420 goals and 513 assists for 933 points with a plus-145 rating. He ranks among the top 10 in franchise history in goals, assists, points and points per game.

The Bruins open the regular season Tuesday night against the New York Rangers.