David Krejci uncertain of future; money not at center of Taylor Hall’s offseason wishes & more takeaways from breakup day

The Bruins held their annual breakup day on Friday morning, with multiple players speaking to the media after completing their exit interviews with the coaching and management staff. Along with Tuukka Rask revealing that he’ll be out until January/February due to hip surgery, here are a few other highlights from the four-hour Zoom session:

David Krejci wants to return to Boston, but uncertain of future

With franchise cornerstones in David Krejci and Tuukka Rask set to hit free agency in the coming months, no one entirely knows what the future holds for a Bruins team that could continue to uproot an established veteran core that started with Zdeno Chara’s departure last winter.

Count Krejci among those still waiting for the other shoe to drop when it comes to sorting out what lies ahead after spending the first 15 seasons of his NHL career in a black-and-gold sweater. 

"Obviously I’ve thought about it a lot, not just the last couple days, but the whole season pretty much," Krejci said of his future while speaking on Friday morning. "But yeah, I’m not going to give you an answer right now. I’m gonna need a few weeks to think about lots of things, talk to lots of people. I love Boston. See what happens."

"I love Boston. This is my home," he added. "I just don’t see myself playing anywhere else. We’ll see what happens."

While the Bruins will eventually need to brace for life without the luxury of having Patrice Bergeron and Krejci as their two-headed monster down the middle, it sure seems like a shorter-term contract between Krejci and the B’s would be agreeable for all involved. 

Krejci has obviously stated his intention, while the B’s really don’t have any better solution in the pipeline for replacing his top-six production — with the 35-year-old pivot recording 44 points in 51 games this past season, including nine points in 11 playoff bouts. 

Perhaps a year ago, we could have envisioned a plan in which Boston expected Charlie Coyle (fresh off of inking a six-year, $31.5 million contract extension) to eventually take up the mantle as the B’s 2C, with Jack Studnicka slotting up as the third-line pivot for the time being. Of course, such strides didn’t come to pass for both Coyle and Studnicka, opening the door for Krejci to return for at least a few more seasons. 

And while the Bruins have plenty of holes to shore up across its roster, Krejci expressed a willingness to settle for a contract with a lower payout than the $7.25 million annual cap hit he secured for the previous six seasons. 

"It’s not about money," he said. "I guess that’s all I can tell you. My next deal is not going to be based on money."

Given both the absence of a suitable replacement on Boston’s roster and the ability to retain a top-six pivot with the risk of a substantial cap hit or extended term, it sure seems like re-upping Krejci is a no-brainer at this point. 

But until both parties dot the i’s and cross the t’s on a new deal, anything can happen.

“We’ll see what happens,” Krejci said. “I don’t even know. I talk to my parents and they ask me, and I can’t even give them a straight answer. I just don’t know right now.”

One thing that might play a factor in keeping Krejci around? Re-upping Taylor Hall — who, even with a lackluster second round against New York, fit in seamlessly on the second line with him and Craig Smith. 

After countless years spent looking for a set group of skilled wingers, pitching a few more years of a Hall-Krejci-Smith trio would seem to be a good sell for all involved. 

"Obviously when we did that trade and I got put together with Hallsy and Smitty, it was amazing," Krejci said. "It wasn’t just on the ice. They’re such good guys, too. Smitty is the nicest person ever. I didn’t know Hallsy at all before. He surprised me. Obviously you know what kind of player he is, but he surprised me as a person.  

“We would hang out a lot. We got really close, became really good friends. That kind of carries out on the ice as well. If you get good chemistry away from the game, then you come in the game and sometimes you don’t even have to say anything. You just know how that person feels. It was great. I love playing with those guys, I love hanging out with those guys. I had lots of fun the last couple months for sure."

Taylor Hall willing to take a discount?

The other pending UFA on that second line echoed the sentiments shared by his center, with Taylor Hall expressing an interest in returning to Boston in 2021-22 and beyond. 

“I see a fit, and hopefully they feel the same,” Hall said. “We’ll let the dust settle on everything this year. I’m sure they have a lot of stuff going on and some other guys that have been here longer than me that they have to worry about. We’ll figure that out, but hopefully we can make something work. That’s obviously my goal, and like I said, hopefully we can make that happen.”

Unlike Krejci, it seems like a given that Hall could set himself up for a nice payday once again out on the open market, with the left winger’s stock soaring from the depths he once found himself in with Buffalo earlier this season. 

Even with a lackluster end to his short stint so far with Boston, one shouldn’t downplay the impact that Hall had on that second line — especially when it came to meshing seamlessly with Krejci and Smith right from the get-go.

During the regular season, Hall was an O-zone monster for Boston — with the B’s outscoring the competition, 15-1, during Hall’s 212 minutes of 5v5 ice time. 

Given those sterling metrics, it seems like a given that multiple clubs will be vying for Hall’s services this summer — potentially putting Boston in a bind if a bidding war gets out of hand, given the need to address multiple flaws on the roster. 

But, like Krejci, Hall added that at this stage of his career, the 29-year-old isn’t looking for the top payout — focusing instead on what might be the best fit for him as he looks to prioritize winning. After praising Boston time and time again this season when it came to team culture and his place on this roster, perhaps Hall will put his money where his mouth is. 

“I’m not looking to absolutely maximize my value at this point in my career,” Hall said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to make some good money in this league. At this point, it’s about more of a fit for me than, maybe, money or a long-term thing. I just want to find a home for the next few years here. We’ll see what happens.”

That certainly sounds like good news for the Bruins, who could be setting themselves up for a big offseason if they’re able to retain all three of Krejci, Hall and Rask for far below their market value.

Carlo/Miller size up injuries

When it comes to identifying the turning point in Boston’s second-round exit against the Isles, it’s hard not to focus in on a shorthanded D corps that lost two of its sturdiest netfront defenders in Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller during the B’s playoff push — with the Islanders promptly potting 15 goals over the final three games of the series. 

Speaking on Friday, both Carlo and Miller admitted that they were dealing with concussions due to checks sustained in Game 3 against the Islanders and Game 4 against the Capitals, respectively. 

Even though Carlo had no issue with the hit from Isles forward Cal Clutterbuck that slammed his head into the glass and knocked him out of the series, the B’s defenseman did note that he didn’t have a set timeline of when he was going to be cleared to return had Boston kept its season alive. 

“Definitely questionable if I was able to make it through the protocol steps. That’s what we were working towards, but I’m not sure with how I was feeling on the ice that day that I skated, just from dizziness and whatnot from the hit, how that would have gone,” Carlo said. “Overall, I’m feeling very good off the ice.

“I went and saw one of the specialists here and kind of did some stuff. I feel like the dizziness is starting to subside. Feeling good and encouraged that with this time off I’ll be more than 100 percent going into camp and everything. It’s obviously disappointing, but not sure if I would’ve been able to make it in there just with the protocol steps.”

It was a trying season for Carlo, who missed an extended stretch earlier in the season with another concussion — that one delivered off of a blatant cheap shot from Tom Wilson. 

Even though Boston’s D corps is likely in line to receive quite the overhaul this offseason, Carlo still stands as a major cog on the B’s blue line as a shutdown presence and PK ace. However, there has to be a bit of concern regarding his health and what has been multiple concussions that have impacted him so far in his early career. However, the 24-year-old defenseman pushed back on some of those concerns. 

“Not at all,” Carlo said of worries regarding his health. “I think this year was obviously a struggle through these injuries. It’s no fun, but I’m not going to sit here and get discouraged or think that my career is heading down a wrong path because of a couple concussions. I hope this is the last one of my career and hopefully I can play as long as possible, but for how I’ve recovered from these, I don’t feel like there’s any issue there.”

 As for Miller — sidelined after getting hit high from Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov — the hope was for the rugged defenseman to get cleared to play in a potential Game 7 against the Islanders, likely getting the green light for contact had Boston escaped Nassau Coliseum with a win on Wednesday. 

For Miller, who battled back from two catastrophic knee injuries and multiple setbacks to get back on the ice this season, finding himself back on the outside looking in as Boston’s season came to a close stood as a tough pill to swallow. 

“It doesn't get any easier, that's for sure. … You want to be out there,” Miller said. “Been down that road, unfortunately. I was super close to being back, most likely would have played in Game 7. That it just makes it even worse, to be honest with you. It's not good.” 

As for what the future holds, Miller was mum on the topic, with the 33-year-old skater set to hit free agency once again. While Miller made his presence felt when on the ice, he was limited to just 28 games — with a setback with his knee keeping him off the ice for six weeks. 

"Obviously, you want to play every game you can,” Miller said. “That was my goal this year, it didn't happen. I got some good hockey in and I really was holding out for as much as I could for the playoffs. It's something I'll talk to my family about and make a decision and go from there.”

Elsewhere on the injury front, Curtis Lazar got some good news. Despite appearing to seriously injure his knee while doling out a heavy hit in Game 5 against the Islanders, Lazar announced on Friday that he was only dealing with an MCL sprain and a bruised ACL — and will not need surgery. 

Rask tunes out criticism 

While Rask’s upcoming surgery captured most of the headlines from a busy day over at Warrior Ice Arena, a sizable portion of the 23 interview scheduled on Friday revolved around another set of discourse surrounding Boston’s No. 1 netminder — the criticism that he tends to attract on a regular basis. 

As we noted ahead of Game 6 on Wednesday, Rask was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t when it came to either sitting out the elimination game due to a labral tear and nagging back injury or gutting through it despite not being at 100 percent — with critics incensed with whatever route he was going to take. 

Even after Rask announced the cause of his injury on Friday, the reception on social media was … less than enthused about Rask trying to battle through an injury — which is odd, considering the conduit of the criticism last season involved him “quitting” on the Bruins.

But for as polarizing as Rask is in this market, he reiterated on Friday that the criticism that seems to plague him doesn’t bother him all that much.   

"There’s a reason I don’t read social media, or the news really," Rask said. "Because when you get caught up in that, it might be mentally tough. But it really doesn’t affect me because I don’t hear that noise. I think I’ve said it many times before, but people have opinions, they have the right to say whatever they want to say as long as it’s within good limits. I respect that.

"It doesn’t affect my game. I feel like every time I go out on the town or whatever, people have been really supportive. It’s not like I go to the grocery store and people are throwing eggs at me or yelling at me. That might suck."

It may not bother Rask, but his teammates certainly feel a bit differently. 

"The criticism he gets is just insane," Coyle said. "It's gotta be people who just don't watch closely or what, but we all know what Tuukka brings and how good he is, what he plays through, what he's done for us and the organization. For anyone to criticize him... I guess someone used the word 'bozo' before. It's just stupid.

"Tuukka's one of the best goalies and he's been doing it for however long now, playing through stuff. Most people don't know what goes on behind the scenes and what guys go through, what he plays through. And he does it pretty well. We love Tuukks. We know what he brings every day. I think Tuukks knows that."