The Boston Bruins re-signed captain Patrice Bergeron, and past Bruins player David Krejci to a one season deal Monday afternoon. Both players being members of the 2011 Stanley Cup winning Bruins roster.
Almost three months after he left the ice without any certainty that he would return, Bergeron signed a one-year deal with the Bruins. Exactly two hours later, the team announced that Krejci, who played last season in his home country of Czechia, will also be back for the 2022-23 season. “Obviously, we’re great friends and we go way back,” Bergeron said in a video conference with reporters. “I’m super excited to get going with him and also the rest of the guys.”
Bergeron received a $2.5 million deal, and Krejci signed for $1 million with the potential for $2 million more. Bergeron is fourth on the Original Six franchise’s all-time scoring list with 982 points, and Krejci is ninth with 730. Krejci has 215 goals and 515 assists in 15 years in the NHL, all with Boston, and led the Bruins in scoring during the 2011 Stanley Cup run with 12 goals and 11 assists in 25 games. Playing for HC Olomouc last year, he led the team with 20 goals, 26 assists and 46 points in 51 games.
Bergeron, 37, and Krejci, 36, led the Bruins to the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup and two other trips to the Stanley Cup Final. Boston was eliminated in the first round of this year’s playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes on May 14 and fired coach Bruce Cassidy three weeks later. Jim Montgomery was hired to replace Cassidy as Bruins Head Coach, and the new coach said at his introductory news conference that Bergeron, a five-time Selke Trophy winner, was his first call to re-sign with the team. Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs said Bergeron, who was unsigned and contemplating retirement, was expected to return.
Bergeron has 400 goals and 582 assists in 18 seasons — all with the Bruins, who selected him in the second round of the 2003 draft. Since then, he has established himself as the league’s dominant two-way forward and one of the most respected players in the game. Bergeron’s 11 straight seasons as a Selke finalist, including this year, is the longest streak of top three finishes for an NHL award, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of 10 in a row as an MVP finalist (Gretzky won the Hart Trophy nine times). It is expected that Bergeron will retire from the NHL following this season, but it can be certain that Bergeron’s career as a Bruin and an NHL player will never be taken for granted again.
