Montgomery: Bruins Trending Toward Having Captain in 2023-24

PLYMOTUH, Mass. – Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said that the Black & Gold are likely to have a captain for the club’s Centennial year in 2023-24.

Speaking ahead of the 20^th annual Boston Bruins Foundation golf tournament at Pinehills Golf Club, Boston’s bench boss said that while there is no timetable for the decision, the club is expecting that a player will don the ‘C’ this season.

“I think we are trending in the right direction towards having someone be our captain [this season],” said Montgomery. “We’ve had internal conversations and I think decisions will be made. I don’t know if there’s a timeline on that yet.

“We have enough real good leaders, where we could have a captain that would be leading us.”

Succeeding the likes of Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara will be no easy task for whoever takes over the role, but Montgomery is confident in the leadership that exists inside the Bruins dressing room.

“I mean, we lost a lot of leadership people last year. We didn’t just lose Bergy – we lost [David Krejci], we lost [Nick] Foligno, players that were especially important,” said Montgomery. “Everyone has watched those players, especially Bergy for years, and there’s a lot of players that have worn the Spoked-B for a long time and care about the culture and how we compete and we carry ourselves.”

Montgomery said that the Bruins’ next captain must embrace his own style of leadership, while making sure he remains committed to holding everyone around the team accountable.

“Someone that is confident in who they are, someone that isn’t afraid to put his arm around a teammate, and also hold a teammate accountable,” Montgomery said when asked what makes a good captain. “And also not afraid to come in my office and hold me accountable to what he believes in and make sure I’m doing the right thing for this organization.

“He’s the go between, between the players and the coaches, and he’s got to be comfortable communicating with everyone…and you guys [the media], being able to be there every day for you guys to have a source, as the pulse of the team, and who’s the leader of our team.”

Montgomery added that it will be an adjustment for everyone after having Bergeron as part of the leadership core for such an extended period of time.

“I’m going to have an adjustment with whoever the captain is because I had a relationship with Bergy that’s going to be different with them,” said Montgomery. “It’s no different than when you’re working at work. You have colleagues that you communicate with differently, and some you have to listen more to.

“With Bergeron it was 50/50, I may have to talk more with this person because they’re looking for a little more guidance than maybe Bergeron was because this is their first time being a captain of the Boston Bruins. That’s just working on your relationship, and both of you being open minded and communicating.”

DeBrusk on Contract: ‘Nothing New’

Jake DeBrusk said he has not “heard anything new” regarding a contract extension as he gets set for his seventh season with the Black & Gold. The 26-year-old is entering the final season of a two-year pact with the club worth an average annual cap hit of $4 million.

“I’m approaching it by just getting ready for Game 1,” said DeBrusk, who tied a career high with 27 goals in just 64 games last season. “Just getting in my game, and I guess when it comes to contract talks, it’s one of those things where you need two sides to tango… and whatever happens, happens. It’s not really my main focus.

“Obviously, it’s a big year for the team in general and I know that if I’m doing my part and having success with production and certain things, it will help our team. I think it goes hand in hand, and I’m just ready to get the season started. I’m excited for it, and now it’s just about staying healthy.”

DeBrusk acknowledged that he is no stranger to uncertainty when it comes to his future after maneuvering through a trade request and a bevy of trade rumors over the past couple of seasons.

“Yeah, I think that there’s a lot of things that are similar to our team last summer,” said DeBrusk. “Just in general, for myself it’s been ups and downs. I think I’ve learned a lot about myself. I think that last year was kind of me becoming myself in a sense, and I know I have more to give. I worked hard this offseason and I’m ready to go, and I’m just excited to get back out there.”

Wait, There’s More

• Montgomery said that the Bruins are “really close” to an announcement, likely next week, regarding the replacement for assistant coach John Gruden, who departed over the summer to take over as head coach of the Toronto Marlies.
• Hampus Lindholm, who suffered a foot fracture late in the regular season said he “feels great” as camp approaches. “[The foot’s] good,” he said. “I took more time to heal, and I feel great. It’s nice to have all of that sorted out…it’s in the past, and I’m happy it feels great now, and I’m feeling even stronger and better than when started last year.”
• Montgomery on why he is comfortable with Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha being the B’s top two centers heading into the season. “Well, because they both can handle a lot of minutes. A) both of them are coming into believing who they are and how they need to play, regardless of who they're playing with, of how they bring success to the Bruins and how they impact games at both ends of the ice. We're really comfortable, especially after seeing them in big games, Games 3 and 4 [against Florida – play 19 to 20 minutes and play as well as they did. Now, I'm hoping they don't have to play 20 minutes a night. But we know they can handle that, and that they can handle all three zones of work.”
• Montgomery on the added training camp competition this season: “There's no doubt there's way more jobs that are open, right? And competition is great. And I do think that we are all hoping that there's going to be pleasant surprises that are going to make the team kind of like [Jakub Lauko] did and A.J. Greer did out of camp last year.”
• DeBrusk on Millan Lucic returning to the Bruins: “I met him once actually when he was playing for Edmonton for a dinner, because [David Pastrnak] is good friends with him. Really funny guy, from that short time that I had with him. He was obviously a big, intimidating guy. I didn’t know if he wanted to hurt me…no, he’s a nice guy, talked to him a little bit at the rink a couple days ago and just really nice…I know he's obviously really excited to be back here, and I think the fans are too.”