The heart and soul of the Bruins is going to be wearing black and gold for a very long time.
The Bruins announced Friday morning that they have signed forward Patrice Bergeron to an eight-year contract extension. Bergeron has one year remaining on his current deal, which means this deal will go into effect after next season. The 2012 Selke Trophy winner will make an average of $6.5 million per season over the life of the contract.
There’s now a good chance Bergeron ends his career in Boston, which is what he’s wanted all along, he said last week when meeting with the media.
“That’s the goal since the beginning,” Bergeron said. “It’s a team that believed in me when I was 18 and when I was coming up and now, like I said before, it’s my home. “I love the city, love the people and definitely the organization and my teammates. So I definitely want to stay here, and hopefully we can work something out.”
Bergeron, widely considered one of the best two-way forwards in the game, will be 28 when next season begins. He notched 10-22-32 totals through 42 games with the Bruins last season, and he added nine goals and six assists in the playoffs.
The alternate captain played through a broken rib, a punctured lung and eventually a separated shoulder during the Bruins’ Stanley Cup Final loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Related articles
- Patrice Bergeron Released from Hospital, ‘Doing Well’ (nesn.com)
- Patrice Bergeron Played Through Broken Rib, Torn Cartilage, Separated Shoulder in Game 6 (nesn.com)
- Patrice Bergeron Says He Has No Regrets After Playing Through Serious Injuries in Stanley Cup Final (nesn.com)
- Patrice Bergeron Proves Once Again to Be a Warrior, Heart and Soul of Bruins Team (nesn.com)
