NHL Notebook: Bruins will do 'whatever we can' to bolster center position post-Bergeron

The Bruins knew the day was coming. 

It was another offseason of Patrice Bergeron mulling his future in the game of hockey, and this time, the captain ultimately opted to go out on his own terms. 

"When he called and told me that he was done, it was kind of a sad conversation," Cam Neely told NESN's Adam Pellerin after Bergeron's retirement press conference at TD Garden on Wednesday. "I was hoping it wasn't going to be that way, but it comes to an end for all athletes. The one thing I was thinking about was, 'Good for him, for going out on his own terms.' Not many athletes get an opportunity, even at the top of their game, to say. 'I'm done.' Patrice is one of those, so I'm happy for him. ... For me, it was about him deciding when his career was over, not somebody else."

Don Sweeney echoed a similar sentiment in his hit with NESN, even bringing up legendary running back Barry Sanders – who retired after 10 consecutive seasons of over 1,000 rushing yards and was a season removed from over 2,000 yards and an MVP with the Detroit Lions – as an example of another athlete choosing to go out at the top of his game. Bergeron had just won his record-extending sixth Selke Trophy, coming off his 10th straight season of at least 20 goals and 50 points. 

"People often say, 'Well, they've got to push you out,' and then again, you have to really tip your cap when a guy makes a decision of that nature," Sweeney told Andy Brickley, adding that once again, it was a long process on Bergeron's timeline as No. 37 took all the time he needed with his family. 

All Boston hoped for was to be able to put it off for another season.

"I did, yeah," Neely said in his media scrum, admitting to trying to convince Bergeron to come back one more time. "I did. Don did. I'm sure Charlie [Jacobs] did. I'm sure some of his teammates did as well, but we gave him the time to make the decision."

Instead, the Bruins are staring reality in the face with their work cut out for them in filling the hole left by Bergeron in the top-six.

Draft misses and trade whiffs be damned, the B's could almost always lean back on Bergeron and David Krejci locking it down in the top-six, helping the other two center spots to fall into place.

But without Bergeron, coupled with the cap trouble, lack of assets and the likelihood Krejci could be behind him when he officially makes his call, Boston must cobble together a center group that will be in all probability be headlined by Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha. 

"Well, you know, we've had some handcuffs on us with what we could do," Neely said. "We know that it's a position we need to improve." 

Once he re-signs, Trent Frederic and new acquisitions Morgan Geekie and Jesper Boqvist will all be in line with their hands raised in the hopes of greater responsibilities once training camp starts. All are still likely best-suited for middle or bottom-six duties, or in the case of Merkulov and Poitras, more seasoning at the lower levels. Behind them, Patrick Brown, Marc McLaughlin, John Beecher and Jayson Megna will be in the rotation to hold things down in what will probably be fourth-line or depth roles. 

Georgii Merkulov will have opportunities in camp. Matthew Poitras and Brett Harrison may as well. 

But their contributions are unlikely to be on the way soon. It's the price of contending in today's NHL, shipping out draft picks year after year. Boston has had two first-round picks in the last five drafts, Beecher – who projects as a career role player – and winger Fabian Lysell. They won't have one in 2024, either, barring an utter collapse, in which case they'll regain the top-10 protected pick sent to Detroit for Tyler Bertuzzi. Given the prospect pipeline, it might not be the worst thing. After all, the B's only have three (!) selections in 2024 – a fourth, fifth and sixth-rounder. Plus, the Bruins aren't staring down a years-long rebuild, as the Ducks or Canadiens have. Like the leaner years of 2015-15 and '16-17, the core is already in place. The only thing missing is a bonafide pivot. 

The B's have tried their best in the middle or later rounds of the draft, adding promise in Poitras (second round), Harrison (third), Dans Locmelis (fifth) and others. All are most likely multiple years away. 

While sending No. 37 to the rafters is a "no-brainer," according to Neely (and everyone else), whether or not any of the above options on the roster or in the system can be viable long-term solutions is anything but. 

"Organizationally, we've recognized our center position was getting older the last few years and with [Krejci] coming back [this past season]," Neely said. "It's challenging when you're competing every year and you're giving up draft capital. It's hard to find those players in the later rounds. It's something we have to and have been focusing on."

Of course, there's always the option of external help. Given the salary cap and draft capital, a hockey trade with money coming in and going out is the best option, but Boston is still in a position to compete and likely make the playoffs in 2023-24.

"It's very important to us to stay competitive," Neely said in his NESN hit. "As everybody knows, we pushed the chips in last season, and we're paying a little bit of the price now with some bonus overages."

Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk make up a still strong core of wingers, which versatile options like Geekie and Frederic as well as a potential bounceback for James van Riemsdyk add to. The defense, save for swapping Connor Clifton with Kevin Shattenkirk is the same defense that marched out to a 44-8-5 record before adding Dmitry Orlov. The league's best goaltending tandem in Jeremy Swayman (once he also re-signs) and Linus Ullmark (even if he's due for a regression) remains intact. 

Even without a high-end center, it's a roster that can still get into the postseason, which is the bar for a lot of teams after seeing what the Florida Panthers did in these latest playoffs.

"I think Don did a really good job of filling out the roster," Neely continued to NESN. "I think we're still going to be very competitive. As we saw this past year, you just need to get in. Once you get in, anything can happen. That's what our goals are, to stay competitive."

To subtract from the strong support around their centers in any type of hockey trade that might materialize, the Bruins would have to be absolutely sure of the long-term fit of any potential pivot they'd bring in. 

There's the possibility of waiting until the 2024 offseason to make their move, but a stacked free agent class is already down one of its top prizes after the Hurricanes locked up cornerstone center Sebastian Aho to an eight-year extension with a $9.75 million cap hit. Boston will be one of many teams expecting to have gobs of cap space that could be waiting with bated breath to see if Auston Matthews, Elias Lindholm, Mark Scheifele and Chandler Stephenson hit the open market. Lindholm and Scheifele currently find themselves part of speculation on the trade market. 

Right now, the Bruins can't rule anything out as they await the emergence of their next franchise center.

"We'll do whatever we can to bolster that position," Neely said to reporters.

Bruins, Swayman have work to do after reported arbitration filings

Swayman's arbitration hearing is set for Sunday (Sept. 30), and it appears if the Bruins want to sign him before it gets to that point, the two sides have a lot of ground to cover.

Elliotte Friedman reported the arbitration filings for both the team and the player on Friday, with Boston coming in at $2 million and Swayman at $4.8 million, a $2.8 million difference in opinions. 

This, however, is hardly a surprise. The team went low, and the player shot for the moon. Just the nature of arbitration. It can't be taken personally. 

In all likelihood, it's easy for the neutral arbiter to settle this somewhere in the middle. An even split would come in at $3.4 million, but it's not out of the question for the deal to be more in the neighborhood of $3.5 million or even higher, say $3.75 million.  

It's a similar situation to the situation Ilya Samsonov and the Maple Leafs found themselves in just a couple of weeks ago. Samsonov's filing was $4.9 million, while Toronto came in at $2.4 million. With a $2.5 million difference, the arbiter awarded Samsonov a one-year, $3.55 million deal. 

While Jake Oettinger, Spencer Knight and Carter Hart have been the popular contract comparables for Swayman throughout this process, a better comparison could be Pittsburgh's Triston Jarry, who signed for three years at $3.5 million per season in 2020 as an arbitration-eligible RFA. Jarry didn't get to arbitration but was coming off a 20-12-1 record, three shutouts, a .921 save percentage and a 2.43 goals-against average in 33 games. Swayman just put up a 24-6-4 record, four shutouts, a .920 save percentage and a 2.27 GAA in 37 games this season. 

Logan Cooley changes mind, signs ELC with Arizona

For the last two months, center Logan Cooley was preparing to return to Minnesota for his sophomore season, coming off a freshman campaign that saw him finish as a finalist for the Hobey Baker after he was second in the nation with 60 points (22g) in 39 games. The third overall pick in 2022 cited unfinished business with the Golden Gophers, who lost to Quinnipiac 10 seconds into overtime of the national championship. Speculation swirled about the role Arizona's arena troubles had played in Cooley's decision, too. 

It all changed on Thursday when the Coyotes announced they had signed Cooley to a three-year, entry-level contract (start the jokes about Cooley still returning to play in a college arena). 

“When I posted about coming back to school a few months ago, I was fully planning to return for my sophomore season. Over the past months, I have realized that deep down, I feel ready for the challenge of playing at the highest level in the world and I want to fulfill my lifelong dream of being an NHL player," Cooley wrote on social media.

Arizona, who went 28-40-14 last season, adds their best prospect to an ongoing rebuild, which features 25-year-old winger Clayton Keller – a likely linemate for Cooley in the top-six – coming off a 37-goal, 86-point season, the best of his career. The Coyotes also saw 22-year-old rookie winger Matias Maccelli finish fourth in Calder Trophy voting after 11 goals and 49 points in 64 games. 

The Gophers are now down Cooley, Matthew Knies and Brock Faber – three All-Americans – from last year after the three turned pro. First-round center Oliver Moore becomes a possible candidate to pick up some of the slack as a freshman. Jimmy Snuggerud is back for his sophomore year after making up one-third of the nation's best lines with Cooley and Knies. A strong veteran core remains, aided by some fifth-year options. 

“The hardest part of coming to this decision was feeling like I was letting people down, but I have to be true to myself and do what’s in my heart. I am so grateful for my time as a Gopher," Cooley also wrote. "I’ll be watching and cheering the boys on as they pursue a national championship this year. Thanks again for the support and understanding as I start my pro career with the Coyotes.”

Tarasenko's signing leaves Kane as the last big free agent domino to fall

The Ottawa Senators inked Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year, $5-million deal on Thursday as the Russian goes the Tyler Bertuzzi route, betting on himself on a one-year deal in the hopes of a bigger payday in 2024.

It's a smart bit of business for Ottawa. The 31-year-old goal-scorer had just 18 tallies between St. Louis and the New York Rangers last season, but with a top-six role waiting for him with the Senators and the motivation of a one-year deal, he could return to the 20 or 30-goal range we've grown accustomed to seeing throughout his career. Ottawa gets an easy replacement to fill the void left by Alex DeBrincat, who the Sens traded to Detroit. 

With Tarasenko off the board, a few names remain on the free-agent list, like Tomas Tatar and Matt Dumba, but Patrick Kane remains the headliner. That might remain the case even after the season starts after Kane opted for major hip surgery earlier in the offseason, which will keep him on the shelf until December. 

Kane and agent Pat Brisson are intent on waiting to see how things unfold through the opening weeks of the season before deciding where the fits may be. Despite the risk-reward element to it, given the nature of the salary cap for contending teams, Kane's camp is trusting the process.

"There's no rush," Brisson told ESPN this week. "This is one I'm very comfortable with. I'm very calm. You could offer me a one-year deal or a two-year deal right now at $7 million or so. I don't even know if I want to entertain it, because it's not what he needs. We'll see, at the right time, how he feels, where he's at, and then we'll take it from there."

A look at the longest-tenured Bruins and Boston athletes 

With a pillar of Boston sports such as Bergeron out of the fold, one that had been around since 2003, it helps put into perspective just how much turnover there's been in this city, especially over the last decade.

Of course, it is professional sports after all. There will forever be comings and goings. 

Bergeron's retirement leaves Patriots special teams ace Matthew Slater (2008) as the longest-tenured athlete of the four major teams in the region. Marchand, now the most veteran Bruin, sits at No. 2, first making his debut in 2009. Believe it or not, Pastrnak (2014) is third, a spot that was held by Marcus Smart (2013) before he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. 

Krejci, who made his debut in Jan. 2007, would have held the top spot, had he not played the 2021-22 season in Czechia. Milan Lucic, back after an eight-year hiatus, obviously misses out, too. The same goes for Al Horford.

Here are the Top 10-plus:

1. Slater (Sept. 2008)
2. Marchand (Oct. 2009)
3. Pastrnak (Nov. 2014)
4. David Andrews and Joe Cardona (Sept. 2015)
5. Brandon Carlo and Jaylen Brown (Oct. 2016)
6. Matt Grzelcyk (Dec. 2016)
7. Chris Sale and Charlie McAvoy (April 2017)
8. Rafael Devers (July 2017)
9. Deatrich Wise, Lawrence Guy and James Ferentz (Sept. 2017)
10. Jayson Tatum (Oct. 2017)