Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron's future is up in the air following his 18th season as a member of the team.
While the 36-year-old captain would not confirm whether he has played his final game, he did ensure that he would not suit up for any team outside of Boston.
Many of his teammates gushed about his leadership abilities during their exit interviews for the 2021-22 season on Monday.
"I've been learning from one of the best for a lot of years," David Pastrnak said, when speaking on his own leadership moving forward, as seen in a team-provided video. "Obviously, what Bergy does for us is insane. It's very hard to describe and everybody wants to be like him so I'm very humbled that I can learn from the best."
Chris Wagner was asked what he's learned about leadership from Bergeron, and shared that the captain stayed in touch while Wagner worked his way back to the Bruins.
"He was texting me probably once a month just to check on me," Wagner said, as seen on a team-provided video. "...He does a really good job with that. He doesn't fake it at all, he actually cares about everybody in this room. So it's something I definitely take away from him."
Fellow center Erik Haula jumped in on the praise as well.
"I'm just very fortunate to be with a guy like that," Haula said, as seen in a team-provided video. "I learned a lot from him as a player, as a pro, great example, great leader. It's well known all over the league right? But just his character is hard to top, hard to even explain. All you can do is try to learn from a guy like that and, like I said, I'm very fortunate to be able to do that.
The Bruins' brass will be met with a myriad of offseason decisions, though Bergeron's choice might be the most important toward the team's success for 2022-23.
