How Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron Will Approach Decision About NHL Future

BRIGHTON, Mass. — Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron is in nearly the exact same position he was at the end of last season.

The longtime Bruins center is contemplating retirement once again, but he admitted that the way Boston’s historic season came to a crushing end in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Florida Panthers changes the scenario a little bit compared to last year as he prepares to make a decision on his career.

“Right now, I think it’s a different emotion, feeling, because it hurts a lot more with the way that things ended and with the year we’ve had,” Bergeron said Tuesday during exit interview day at Warrior Ice Arena. “But I think it’s similar. I’m kind of in the same mindset where I want to take a step back and make sure I weigh the pros and cons and have a conversation with the family.”

Bergeron certainly will take his time to think things over as he said he doesn’t have a timeline determined yet for when he wants to come to a decision, which is unlike his teammate David Krejci.

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“It’s too early right now to even make a sound decision,” Bergeron said. “So I really want to make sure, obviously, I make the right call and we make the right call as a family. So I don’t know I guess how long it’s going to take.”

But if Bergeron follows a similar path he took last season when thinking about retiring and ultimately returning to the Bruins, an answer about his future could come over the next month or so to give general manager Don Sweeney time to tinker with the roster and fill Bergeron’s void.

“I wanted to give (Don Sweeney) an answer before free agency, so somewhere in June,” Bergeron said about his decision last year.

The process will be much of the same for Bergeron, though, with him considering many of the factors that went through his mind not long ago.

“Physically, mentally, trying to make sure you’re invested and you’re all there and you’re ready for another go at it,” Bergeron said. “So it’s kind of like the same mindset as last year.”