Patrice Bergeron isn’t exactly an elder statesman, but the Bruins center probably feels like one in wake of Boston’s latest transaction.
The B’s signed Ryan Donato to a two-year, entry-level contract Sunday, and the Harvard product will make his NHL debut Monday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden.
Donato joining the B’s certainly has to be a surreal moment for the 21-year-old Scituate, Mass. native, as well as Bergeron, who played alongside Donato’s father, Ted, in the early stages of his NHL career.
“Doesn’t make me feel any younger. When I was an 18-year-old coming in I was playing with his dad,” Bergeron said of Ryan Donato joining the Black and Gold, per BostonBruins.com’s Eric Russo. “That first year he was skating in practice out there as a young kid. Now he’s in the locker room and he’s gonna be part of the team, it’s definitely different.
Bergeron continued: “Comes from a great family…his dad was so nice to me from training camp on. I felt pretty lucky to have great veterans like I did and I’ll try to do the same thing for them.”
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better mentor for a young player than Bergeron, who has been Boston’s backbone for the past decade. And it might not be long before Bergeron and Ryan Donato play in a game together, as the four-time Frank J. Selke Trophy winner appears to be making great strides in his rehab for a fractured foot injury.
