The Boston Bruins had not yet left the PNC Arena rink on Saturday after their elimination in Game 7 of their first round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, that already several questions were raised about the future of Patrick Bergeron.
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The second-round pick (45th overall) from Massachusetts in 2003 has played all of his 1,216 games with the same organization. His eight-year contract, worth $55 million, will expire this summer. The 36-year-old Quebecer could sign a new agreement with the Bruins – or one of the 31 other teams in the National League – or even opt for retirement.
Asked about this, even the main interested party did not know what the future held for him.
“It’s still too early right now,” replied Bergeron. It’s still too cold.”
Despite his age, Bergeron can still contribute, he who finished the season with 65 points in 73 games. He is also 18 points from reaching the 1,000 career mark, he who can boast of having won the Stanley Cup once, in 2011. He also replaced Zdeno Chara as captain of the Bruins, in January 2021, after the departure of the defender.
Like Shea Weber after the defeat of the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final last season, Bergeron took the time to hug each of his teammates when they left the ice surface. Several people on social networks saw it as a bad omen.
However, journalist Conor Ryan of the “Boston Sports Journal” calmed things down by mentioning that it was a tradition of Bergeron when his team is eliminated from the playoffs.
A longtime teammate of the Quebecer, Brad Marchand did not know what his faithful sidekick was going to decide, but he tried to convince him. “Obviously, I pleaded my case so that he comes back, admitted the small plague of the Bruins. But it’s entirely his decision.”
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