After a summer of trade rumors, arguing about NHL Network lists, and watching paint dry, your long, international nightmare is over: training camp begins.
Well, technically training camp began yesterday, but it was a day of off-ice activities only.
Today (Thursday), the once and future Bruins will be on the ice at Warrior Arena for split-squad practices, with one group skating at 10 AM and one skating at 11:45 AM.
What’s the Bruins training camp roster look like?
On the whole, there are no real surprises. The B’s aren’t inviting anyone to camp on a PTO basis, so the roster is a mix of youth, guys under contract with Providence, and NHL regulars.
Forwards: Joey Abate, Attilio Biasca, Wyatt Bongiovanni, Riley Duran, Mikey Eyssimont, Brendan Gaunce, Morgan Geekie, James Hagens, Brian Halonen, Ivan Ivan, Tanner Jeannot, Mark Kastelic, Marat Khusnutdinov, Sean Kuraly, Elias Lindholm, Dans Locmelis, Fraser Minten, Casey Mittelstadt, Navrin Mutter, David Pastrnak, JJ Peterka, Matt Poitras, Lukas Reichel, Jake Schmaltz, Alex Steeves, Kalle Vaisanen, and Pavel Zacha.
Defensemen: Jonathan Aspirot, Will Borgen, Frederic Brunet, Connor Clifton, Ty Gallagher, Max Guenette, Jordan Harris, Loke Johansson, Henri Jokiharju, Hampus Lindholm, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Tobie Paquette-Bisson, Billy Sweezey, Max Wanner, and Nikita Zadorov.
Goaltenders: Luke Cavallin, Michael DiPietro, Max Lundgren, Jiri Patera, Jeremy Swayman, and Simon Zajicek.
Obviously this list will be thinned out significantly over the next few days, but the team usually has a handful of practices with the full group before making cuts.
If nothing else, this year’s training camp should feature significantly less drama than a couple of years back, when Jeremy Swayman’s contract status hung over everyone’s heads.
This year, with Matt Poitras re-signing yesterday, there’s really not much left undone, except…
Please just name David Pastrnak captain already
The B’s continue to milk their “will they or won’t they” captaincy situation, first saying they were in no rush to have a captain before saying at yesterday’s media availability that they plan to name a captain before the season.
At this point, we’re a few days away from a full-blown reality TV show about the process. “Behind the B” is taken, so maybe we’ll get “Behind the B Choosing the C.” Really rolls off the tongue.
While I understand the team’s desire to go into last season with alternates only and see how things shake out, David Pastrnak should be the captain, and should have been named captain like four months ago.
Pastrnak has been the lynchpin of this team for the better part of a decade. He is the common thread holding together (desperately at times) two recent eras of Bruins hockey.
He has been the team’s most reliable player for a dozen years, to the point that his consistency is almost taken for granted.
For example, prior to Pastrnak’s ascension, the Bruins went nearly 20 years without having a 40-goal scorer; he’s accomplished that feat in five of the last seven seasons.
(It’s also worth pointing out that Pastrnak’s all-around game has vastly improved in recent years, and he’s no longer a “goals and power play” guy.)
“But,” you say, “being a captain isn’t about offense! It’s about leadership!”
Yes, a good point. But leadership can also be about consistency, work ethic, and leading by example — all things Pastrnak has done well for years, along with occasionally grabbing the team by the scruff of the neck and dragging them to a win.
In addition to all of that, Pastrnak is the Bruins’ most visible player, has been a good community guy for years, and seemed to be the default “skate over to talk to the refs” player for most of last season, so…why not make it official?
The Bruins are fortunate to have multiple options for a captain, with Charlie McAvoy also being a good choice.
While McAvoy and Pastrnak have been with the B’s for similar lengths of time and have both served as alternates at the international level, the only real argument I can see for McAvoy over Pastrnak would be a subscription to the “captain should be a more gritty and physical player” idea, which is certainly a take you could have in 2026.
Wherever they end up, the Bruins will be fine. It just seems like a better idea to get it over with, and there really seems to be an obvious choice.
Or they could go with Peter Cehlarik as an honorary captain, which would be a thrifty choice, as he already has a C on his jersey. Makes you think!
As a reminder, the B’s first preseason game is just three days away, as they’ll host the Washington Capitals at TD Garden on Sunday at 5 PM.
Elsewhere around the league, the NHL continues to tease the addition of a new team in Texas, Adam Fantilli isn’t with the Blue Jackets as their training camp begins, and Connor Hellebuyck has been suspended by Winnipeg.
Hey, at least it’s other teams reveling in training camp chaos this year!
What else is on tap for today?
