The Boston Bruins are an Original Six franchise with four players in the 1,000-point club, three of them former captains, including Ray Bourque (1,506), Johnny Bucyk (1,436), Patrice Bergeron (1,294), and Phil Esposito (1,012). As of 2024, only Bergeron played his entire career in black and gold, giving him a higher distinction over the other Hockey Hall of Famers.
However, in 2024-25, suppose current captain Brad Marchand can maintain the 1.11 points-per-game average he has over the past eight seasons. In that case, he’s got a chance to become the fifth member in Bruins history to collect 1,000 points, making them the first franchise in NHL history to have five members of the 1,000-point club with a single franchise.
NHL Teams With 1,000-Point Players
Only three Original Six franchises have four 1,000-point players: the Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings. Interestingly, the other two teams with four members are two 1967 Expansion teams, the Los Angeles Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
For perspective, despite their record 24 Stanley Cup titles, the Montreal Canadiens only have three, the New York Rangers one, and no one in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs has ever scored 1,000 points with the franchise. Overall, 23 of the current 32 teams have one player with at least 1,000 points in their history, with 11 having only one.
Why Marchand’s Milestone Would Be So Historic
With 929 points, Marchand is the closest player out of the five teams with four 1,000 players who are now in the 900-point category and could become the next one to reach the milestone with a single franchise. If the Bruins captain can reach that milestone in 2024-25, he would make Boston the first team in NHL history to have five 1,000-point players in their record books.
Since debuting in 2009-10, Marchand has spent his entire 15-year career in a Spoked B jersey, compiling 929 points in 1,029 games. He’s netted 401 goals and 528 assists, which rank fifth all-time in club history in both categories. He remains the only skater with the club who was also part of the team’s last Stanley Cup title in 2011.
Marchand will enter the final year of his contract in 2024-25, but at just 35 years old, he’s proven that he’s still got a lot of gas left in the tank with consecutive 67-point seasons, including 29 goals and 38 points last year. Since becoming a regular in the lineup in 2010-11, he has only failed to reach the 20-goal plateau once, which came in the shortened 2012-13 campaign, when he finished with 18.
So realistically, with David Pastrnak often on his line and now Elias Lindholm in the fold, the captain should continue his streak of 20-goal seasons. With the motivation to get just 71 points to reach 1,000, Marchand should be pushing to celebrate his historic milestone while the Bruins clinch a playoff spot in late March or early April.
Which Bruins Player is Next in Line for 1,000 Points?
In just 10 seasons, Pastrnak has scored 348 goals, which ranks seventh in team history. During the 2022-23 season, he became the only season player ever to score 60 or more goals in a single season. With another seven seasons left on a massive extension he signed in 2023, he’s almost a lock to break Bucyk’s record of 545 goals before the end of this decade.
At 28, he’s compiled a career points-per-game average of 1.07. Should Pastrnak maintain that pace over the next four seasons, he’ll add more than 350 points to his resume and become the sixth member of the 1,000-point club since he is only 273 points away.
Considering there are specific periods of Bruins history that stand out more than others, like the 1939 and 1941 championship teams, the Bobby Orr era from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, and the Bourque era from the 1980s through the 1990s, the 21st century Bruins may have a claim none of them ever did and that’s three 1,000 point players shared the same ice for more than half a decade.
Bergeron reached 1,000 points before retiring, with Marchand on the cusp, while Pastrnak is just climbing the list. For a brief period, the trio known as “The Perfection Line” memorized the Garden Faithful with a tendency to find one another for a highlight reel tally or a power play goal.
Today’s generation, who missed out on so many classic Bruins moments, will be able to look back at the late 2010s and 2020s and say they got to watch something special with this trio on a nightly basis. It will only be fitting that the three will find their names in the record book with 1,000 points and their numbers hanging together at TD Garden, with Marchand one of the next ones in line. His legacy as one of the team’s best will be cemented when he reaches his next significant milestone.
