Zdeno Chara had been the Bruins' captain since the day he signed with Boston as a free agent in 2006, making him the second-longest tenured captain in franchise history behind only Ray Bourque.
With Chara now gone after signing a one-year deal with the Washington Capitals, the choice to be the Bruins' next captain would seem to be an obvious one.
Patrice Bergeron has been an alternate captain for the entirety of Chara's run as captain, becoming one at age 21 in just his third NHL season. Now 35, Bergeron's time to take over as the team's 20th captain has seemingly arrived.
Speaking to the media via Zoom on Thursday, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said the team isn't ready to name its next captain just yet, but that they do anticipate having a captain this season and that it will probably be the "obvious decision."
"Yes, we expect to have a captain," Sweeney said. "We will allow this some time to breathe for Zdeno and his decision. We’ll make a decision moving forward. I think it’s an obvious decision and one that we’ll make in a respectful manner at an appropriate time. But I think it is important to allow this moment, as raw as it is, to let it play out for the time being as we get on the doorstep to training camp. But we will do that in the right and appropriate manner."
While it is in fact an easy choice, and there's little question Bergeron will be up to the task, the job this season won't come without challenges.
Not only did the Bruins lose Chara, who set a great example and helped establish a great team environment over many years, this offseason, but they also lost Torey Krug, who despite not being a captain was an important part of the leadership core who served as the connective tissue between the team's veteran leaders and its younger players.
Bergeron still has other good veteran leaders around him in the likes of David Krejci, Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask, but he'll have to make sure there's also a second layer of leadership being developed, especially among a defense group that lost its two biggest leaders.
"It’s a little bit to be determined," Sweeney said of the team's leadership. "I do believe we have a strong leadership core still in place and we have other players that would like to assume a larger responsibility in that, on and off the ice. And they have to grow into that. You have to – that’s a learned, that’s not a born-in ability in my opinion. And we’re going to allow for some of that latitude.
"But we have a lot of strong guys that are looking to continue the success they’ve previously had, pass it on to the next cast of players that we hope to become core, integral parts of this hockey club, and we’ll move forward. A player like Craig Smith, coming from another organization, things that he can bring to the table that hopefully our club can continue to improve upon."