Bruins Offer Update On Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci’s Plans

This time last year, Bruins nation awaited word as to whether or not captain Patrice Bergeron would be lacing up his skates and pulling on the Spoked-B for another season.

Fast forward a year and Bruins nation is not only waiting for Bergeron's decision but one from longtime teammate David Krejci as well. Bruins fans may not be patient, but Boston's front office is giving the star duo all the time they need to make a decision.

"As a player, you may think you're done but a month or two into the offseason you're like, 'Wait a minute, what am I going to do next winter?'" Bruins president Cam Neely told reporters Tuesday, per team-provided video. "So really, let's be honest, there's nothing better than playing hockey or playing a sport. So when it's over, it's over for good for the most part."

Both Neely and general manager Don Sweeney acknowledged the Bruins are operating with two paths for the future -- one if they return, and the other if they don't.

"We've got to really kind of plan that they're not coming back until we hear otherwise," Neely said. "We would not be doing the organization a service if we planned they are coming back and then we're told they're not. So for us, it's kind of going down two paths. Hopefully, we'll hear something soon. But you want to give those guys the time that they need."

"Let's be honest, there's nothing better than playing hockey or playing a sport."

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Bruins president Cam Neely on athletes trying to decide to keep playing

The Bruins have been in communication with both Bergeron and Krejci during the offseason about the direction of the franchise.

"They absolutely understand," Neely said. "We've been open, they've been (open). We've told them, 'We understand you're going to take some time to make decisions, but we have to do our jobs.'"

Neely added last year it was a little bit easier because the Bruins had an idea of what the roster would look like either way, but this year there are a lot more questions.

"A lot more conversations of what ifs," Neely said. "I mean, that's the difference. We kind of had a pretty good idea of what our roster would look like and how we could put it together last offseason compared to this offseason."

The Bruins face a lot of roster uncertainties beyond Bergeron and Krejci with free agency opening Saturday and Boston has an abundance of players they need to either extend contracts to or allow to test the market.