Entering 14th season with Bruins, David Krejci adamant that he’s still ‘got some mileage in the tank’

David Krejci has heard it plenty of times already. 

Is there a sense of urgency with this team?

What’s the title window for this club with so many guys on the wrong side of 30?

While the roster of the Boston Bruins features an average age of 26, you can’t argue with the assessment that Boston’s key cogs in the lineup like Zdeno Chara (42 years old), Patrice Bergeron (34), Krejci (33), Tuukka Rask (32) and Brad Marchand (31) certainly aren’t getting any younger. 

But Krejci has a few qualms about the perceived window of a player’s “prime,” especially in regards to this Bruins team.

“I know you guys write a lot of things like that,” Krejci said Wednesday at Warrior Ice Arena. “‘(Being on the) wrong side of 30. I have no idea what the wrong side of 30 means. To me, I thought it was when you’re in your late 30s.

“But no, I mean, look at guys around the league in their 30s. They’re really good players. Our guys in our 30s had really good seasons last year. We’re just a couple months older than we were last season. I feel like we’re in good shape and we’re ready to go.”

If age is really nothing but a number when out on the ice, then Krejci’s 2018-19 campaign should be the case in point.



For the first time since the 2008-09 season (when he was just 22 years old), Krejci surpassed the 70-point mark, tying his previous career-high with 73 points over 81 games. During a year in which players like Bergeron and David Pastrnak each missed at least 15 games due to injury, Krejci stood as a model of consistency — with his lone absence due to mandated rest during the final week of the regular season. 

While Krejci has been a top-six fixture on the Bruins roster for over a decade now, perhaps the most impressive facet of the pivot's standout campaign was the level of production that he was able to achieve despite dealing with a carousel of wingers to his right month after month.

Even though Jake DeBrusk was largely the regular on the left wing, Krejci still found himself in the middle of 14 different lineup combinations that logged at least 15 minutes of 5v5 TOI this season — prompting Cam Neely to mention that adding a top-six wing was going to be a priority for the club during the summer.

No top-six forward was added to the mix, at least from outside of the organization. Now it would appear as though another open competition for a top-six role will be in the cards this training camp — featuring the likes of Karson Kuhlman, Danton Heinen, Anders Bjork, Zach Senyshyn, Brett Ritchie, Oskar Steen and many, many more.

For Krejci, the lack of clarity at the RW position is fine — at least now in the preseason.

"Whoever is going to be on my right side, I know that guy is going to work as hard as any of us this summer and he’ll be ready to go," Krejci said. "I’ll try to help him out, I’m sure he’ll try to help me out as well and hopefully we create chemistry and we stick together on a line for a while, not just for a game and keep changing it. That’s something that you always try to establish, chemistry early on and you try to carry it on into the regular season and kind of try to stick with the same players."

It certainly isn't Chris Kreider or another potential 30-goal scorer, but Krejci should have some solid weapons to work with, in 2019-20. Despite an up-and-down campaign, DeBrusk still managed to light the lamp 27 times — while ranking just behind Florida's Aleksander Barkov when it came to performance differential between actual goals and expected goals in mid to high-danger scoring chances, signaling a quality shooter. 

Add in a player in Kuhlman — who formed a line with DeBrusk and Krejci that generated a 7.00 goals for per 60 minutes rate last season — and Boston could be cooking when it comes to its top-six 2019-20. Or Bruce Cassidy could opt to balance out his forwards by slotting down Pastrnak to play with his fellow countryman. The possibilities are endless, especially when you have a playmaking pivot like Krejci stabilizing the lineup.

While it wouldn't come as much of a surprise if Krejci once again hovers around 60-70 points in what will be his 14th season in Boston, the center was candid when it came to assessing a "successful" campaign for himself in 2019-20.

“It’s not really about points anymore," Krejci said. "After a loss like that, I just want to get back to the playoffs and make another run. It was so much fun. The hockey is up and down,  the emotions — one day, you’re feeling great, one loss, it’s the worst thing ever. That’s part of it but it’s so exciting. I obviously want to have a strong regular season, but hockey in April, May, June — that’s the best hockey. We’ve got to get there and then the fun starts.”

So yes, Krejci might be on the "wrong side of 30" going into yet another go-around with the B's. But whether it be the phrase itself or the sentiment behind it, Krejci isn't ready to buy into any talk of a downturn in his impressive career.

“I was lucky enough to get one Stanley Cup, could have been a couple more, but I’m not done yet," Krejci said. "I’m going to comment on my career and if it was successful or not when I retire. I’m happy where I’m at right now. Could have been a little bit better, but I’m not done yet. I’ve got some mileage left in the tank, so we’ll talk about it when it’s over."