The Boston Bruins await Patrice Bergeron’s decision on whether or not he will return for another NHL season. On Friday’s Toucher & Rich radio program, Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub joined the show to provide insight on the future of the six-time Selke Trophy winner. Also, what is David Krejci’s status for next season?
Parts of conversation are abbreviated for clarity.
Oct 25, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37) congratulates center David Krejci (46) after their 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Fred: I wanted to have you on because someone on the night show talked about the Bruins’ alleged noncommittal to Patrice Bergeron. In fact, the reports were that he was not coming back. Right? There was a report that he was leaning toward retirement.
But the team is leaving it up to him, so we’ll see. Are the Bruins operating like he’s not coming back?
Ty Anderson: No. I don’t know who had that report. I personally don’t agree with it. I do think he’s back. I don’t think David Krejci is coming back. But I do think Patrice Bergeron is.
This year is following a similar sort of calculus as last season, where they need to get their RFAs signed and then say, “Okay, we have X amount of cap space left now. Now we can sign Bergeron.”
The reason why he hasn’t signed is because he’s going to be the last order of business for them. They’ll have to work out another contract that’s mostly bonus incentives with a lower—maybe even league minimum—cap hit this year if he is to return. But I believe he’s coming back.
Fred: Okay. So you believe that the team is operating under that certainty?
Apr 26, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37) gets ready for a face-off during the first period in game five of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Ty Anderson: Yeah, I think they’ve done what they can with the cap space that they have in order to address the center position. For example, the team bringing in Morgan Geekie—a guy similar to Riley Nash—he’ll be a bottom-six forward here, but can move him up in a pinch if need be.
Fred: But, ideally, they would want Bergeron, right?
Ty Anderson: Of course.
Wallach: He played, what, ten minutes per game last year?
Ty Anderson: Yeah, but there’s much to like within those 10 minutes. He’s got some offensive pop. He’s a former third-round pick, but the Bruins think there’s a little more talent there.
Wallach: Alright, I’m looking at cap friendly here. It looks like the Bruins have $5.4 million of cap room. They still have two significant restricted free agents to sign. Frederick’s going to come in at a much higher number. And then you have Swayman too.
When we had Billy Jaffe on a couple of months ago, he thought Swayman’s number would line up somewhere around $4 million a year. With the cap space they have left, it seems like those salaries will be a little lower than we originally thought.
Jan 5, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) looks on during a time out in the second period against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Ty Anderson: The team will probably want to get Swayman’s number under $3.5 million.
Frederick’s contract is hard to nail down. Seventeen goals. No power play time. Is he a center? Is he a wing? What is his long-term projection here? When you ask people about his worth, it’s all across the board. Some say $1.75 million, which I think it’s low. Others say $4 million, which is high.
Fred: Very high.
Ty Anderson: Yeah. If you’re the Bruins, you’d like to get them in at a combined $6 million. So it’ll be tight.
But this is why I think there’s a hold-up with Bergeron. They’ve got to figure out what numbers their two RFAs are checking in at.
I think Frederick might actually get to arbitration because his value is all over the place. There will be a second buyout window, so you could always buy out Derek Forbort’s contract if you wanted to free up some money. But we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
