The Boston Bruins have had some great teams in the past decade, and some amazing playoff runs. Those playoff runs would not be possible if it was not for certain players’ performances in the past decade. So let’s take a minute to honor those players, shall we? Here are the top five best Bruins  players of the 2010s.

5. Nathan Horton

Perhaps the clutchest player in the 2011 Stanley Cup run, Nathan Horton was a big part of the Bruins success in the beginning part of the 2010s. Nathan Horton scored two pivotal overtime goals in the playoffs against the Montreal Canadiens in 2011 and potted another late goal in game seven against the Tampa Bay Lightning to send the Bruins to the finals. That clutch play carried over two years later against the Toronto Maple Leafs. When the Bruins came back from a 4–1 deficit in game 7, Horton scored with about 10 minutes to go in the third period to narrow the deficit to 4–2. Horton’s clutch playoff moment early in the 2010s gives him the number 5 spot in this list.

4. David Krejci

The two-time leading point scorer in the 2011 and 2013 playoffs, David Krejci is another forward who was pivotal to the success of the Bruins in the early 2010s. For much of the early 2010s Krejci was considered the Bruins number-one center and his playoff performances in the 2011 and 2013 playoff runs were big reasons as to why that was. Krejci eventually would become the highest paid player on the Bruins roster. Although his play tailed off since the early 2010s, he is still one of the best forwards in the Bruins right now, and he seems to be catching a second wind in the past two years considering last year he tied his career-high in points.

3. Brad Marchand

Brad Marchand got his first playoff experience with the Bruins in 2011 and never looked back. Marchand has been one of the biggest pests in all of the NHL in the past decade, but he has also been one of the most talented players in the past decade as well. Even though Marchand is now in his early 30s, it seems he is just entering his prime coming off a 100-point campaign last season. I wouldn’t say it is impossible that he is a top-five Bruins player in the 2020s as well.

2. Zdeno Chara

The tallest man in the history of the NHL, standing at 6 feet 9 inches, the captain Zdeno Chara has been the Bruins steadiest defenseman since he first joined the Bruins in 2006. Big Z is still going strong at age 43. He for sure has lost a step when it comes to speed, but his length and experience is still enough to be a top-pairing defenseman in this league. In the past decade Chara has never held a negative plus, minus rating and he is a huge reason why the Bruins have made three finals appearances in the past decade.

1. Patrice Bergeron

Probably the greatest two-way center of all time, Patrice Bergeron has been pivotal to the Bruins success in the past decade. To win the Selke trophy for best defensive forward is no easy task, but Bergeron has done it four times in the past ten years, more than any other player in history. With that great defense comes stellar and clutch offense. Bergeron was one of two goal scorers in game seven against the Vancouver Canucks in 2011, he and Marchand each scored two goals as the Bruins hoisted the Stanley Cup. The clutch moments would continue two years later in game seven against Toronto when he would score a late-tying goal and the game-winner in overtime to help advance the Bruins into the second round. Now with Bergeron in his mid 30s, he is bound to lose a step sooner or later, but he hasn’t yet. That is why he is the best of the Bruins of the 2010s.

Some honorable mentions for the list would include players like Tuukka Rask, Milan Lucic, and David Pastrnak. If Rask had won a Stanley Cup, he would most definitely be on this list, but unfortunately, he hasn’t come through on the biggest stage quite yet. Milan Lucic definitely played his best in the first five years of the decade, but he never popped as a huge game-changing player like Nathan Horton was, even though he was a good piece in the Stanley Cup runs. Davis Pastrnak is sort of a mix between Rask’s and Lucic’s situation, he only played in the latter half of the decade and has yet to win a Stanley Cup. However, his production in the past five years was enough to honor him with consideration for the top five in the past decade. There is no doubt in my mind that we will be seeing Pastrnak  in the top five Bruins for the 2020s.