The Boston Bruins did not need to go through training camp to truly find out who their next team captain would be.

In fact, they didn’t even need to step on the ice, as Wednesday morning came with the official confirmation that Brad Marchand will be the next captain of the Bruins.

Marchand’s promotion from assistant captain to team captain makes him the 27th captain in Bruins history, and allows Marchand to take over for longtime linemate and best friend Patrice Bergeron, who wore the ‘C’ on his sweater for his final three seasons with the club from 2020-21 through 2022-23.

“I am extremely proud of Brad and the hockey player he has become,” Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs said in a statement confirming the decision. “Brad has been a Bruin for over 15 years and had the opportunity to learn from great leaders in Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron. He is ready for this opportunity and our whole team will learn from his competitive nature and tenacity. I am confident he will represent our organization with heart and grit.”

• The decision to name Marchand as Boston’s newest captain came after a summer of conversations between Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery, general manager Don Sweeney, and team president Cam Neely. The trio then informed Marchand of their decision at a recent dinner in the Back Bay.

  “Since my time in the organization, I’ve had Ray Bourque as a captain, Zdeno Chara, and Patrice Bergeron [as captains]. The things that those guys have come were not only were they great players, but they worked hard every day in practice, pushed their teams to work hard, and Brad does that,” Neely said. “He’s learned that and had some good mentors for sure, and he’s come a long way in his career. Both on the ice, off the ice and maturity-wise. So he felt he’d be a really good next captain for this organization.”

  “When I look at Brad, first of all he respects and honors the tradition of the Spoked B and all the great leaders that have come [before] him,” Montgomery said. “Whether it’s Orr, Esposito, Bucyk, Wayne Cashman, going into Bourque and Neely and then you know Z and Bergy, not only does [Marchand] respect the footprints that they’ve laid for his organization, but I think he’s also able to lay his own footprints [and] not just follow them because that’s the way he’s wired and that’s why he’s the right choice to be our captain right now.”

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  Apr 26, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal during the second period in game five of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)

• The longest tenured Bruin on the roster — Milan Lucic started his Bruins career in 2007 whereas Marchand started his in 2009, but Lucic also left town for an eight-season run elsewhere — Marchand represents a link to Bergeron and Zdeno Chara, and the 2011 team that won the Stanley Cup.

  That’s always been viewed as an important era of Bruins hockey from an on-ice and off-ice leadership perspective, and something Marchand is happy to continue to carry on in the B’s locker room.

  “When you look at the leaders that have been here before me and the guys that I’ve been fortunate enough to be under, they’ve taken an incredible amount of pride and [putting] everything that they could possibly be into this team,” Marchand said, referencing Chara and Bergeron. “It’s been incredible to see, but I see the work that goes into it. And I’ve been vocal in the past with, you know, the ages of different captains and stuff like that, and I really believe that I’ve witnessed two of the best leaders of all time.”

  “It’s an important part of the history of this franchise,” Neely acknowledged. “And Brad being on that [2011] team and how well he played on that [team], in that series to win — especially the Vancouver series — you know, it’s a nice thing to have the luxury of the player that won a Stanley Cup in your lineup.”

  Beyond his presence and history as a Stanley Cup winner, Marchand has emerged as one of the franchise’s all-time greats, as he’s scored the sixth-most goals in franchise history and seventh-most points in team history.

  Marchand is also just 53 games away from playing 1,000 games with the Bruins, which is something that just seven players have done with the club (and five of those seven players to have hit that milestone with the franchise have at some point worn the ‘C’ for the Bruins).

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  Mar 23, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) punches Montreal Canadiens center Rem Pitlick (32) during the first period at TD Garden. (Paul Rutherford/USA TODAY Sports)

• The decision to put the ‘C’ on Marchand’s sweater will naturally come with some eyebrow-raising from those out of market (or even in-market) given Marchand’s history with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. But that’s not something that concerns the Bruins all that much.

  “He’s realized [you have to] try to find that fine line of being the player that he wants to be and controlling his emotions when he needs to,” Neely said. “He’s a very emotional player, so sometimes that gets you in trouble, as it has in the past for him. But he’s done a nice job the last couple of years, in my opinion, of controlling the situations a little better while still being able to be the competitive player that we all like and respect about Brad’s game.”

  Marchand, for what it’s worth, also feels like he’s done his part to get the dirt out of his game. While he’s been prone to the occasional slip-up (the Tristan Jarry incident comes to mind), Marchand himself cites the licking incident with the Lightning’s Ryan Callahan back in 2018 as the turning moment for him as a player, realizing that he was simply too good and too talented a player to be doing stuff like that.

  But that also doesn’t mean that Marchand will suddenly stop walking the line.

  “It’s something that I’m going to have to continue, and [it’ll be] a work in progress. I definitely don’t expect to step in and be perfect off the hop,” Marchand admitted. “But I do play with a certain type of passion and emotion, and I won’t lose that. That’s just who I am. I’ll need to continue to do that to be a good player in this league. It’s allowed me to be successful and I don’t want to get away from that.”

  The Bruins also don’t seem to care about the outside perception of a player with a rap sheet like Marchand’s wearing the C for their team.

  “I would say he’s ours and we’re happy we have him,” Montgomery said of how others outside Boston may react to Marchand being the new captain. “That’s what I would say to them. We don’t concern ourselves with their opinions or their thoughts. We love what we have and so do our fans.”

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  Mar 30, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) reacts with defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) after scoring a goal against the Blue Jackets at TD Garden. (Brian Fluharty/USA TODAY Sports)

• Marchand and the Bruins know that it’ll take more than one player wearing the ‘C’ on his sweater to lead.

  The Bruins are going to lean on just about everybody this season, and it’s going to take “the whole group,” as Marchand was quick to point out throughout his first press conference as team captain. B’s management was also quick to point out how the additions of players such as Milan Lucic, James van Riemsdyk, and Kevin Shattenkirk can help with the leadership void created by an offseason full of departures.

  But the Bruins also found their two assistant captains behind Marchand, with word that Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak will wear the A’s for the Bruins for the 2023-24 season.

  “They’ve grown over the last few years and they were a good part of the group last year with Bergy, and I see that growing as this year goes along and in future years,” Neely said. “It’s not just a one-person job to lead. You want everybody to lead their own way. But, you know, Brad having David and Charlie with him is certainly helpful because they they’ve kind of grown last couple of years.”

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