Bergeron not telling future
Captain has yet to announce any decision on next season
Patrice Bergeron will embark on his 13th Stanley Cup playoffs on Monday in Carolina. Whether there will be a 14th playoff, or even a 19th NHL season, remains a mystery.
Bergeron is still without a contract for next season, and if he’s made a decision about his playing future, he is keeping it to himself.
Meanwhile, GM Don Sweeney didn’t have any answers, though his crossed fingers had him believing that the captain does indeed want to continue his playing career beyond this year.
“Good luck with that one,” said a chuckling Sweeney when asked if there had been any discussion on a new deal. “I’m doing the same thing as everyone else is. As I’ve referenced all along. My job is to put together the most competitive group that we can, so that I extend his shelf life in wanting to play. His impact is not questioned, in terms of what he can do on and off the ice. It’s just a matter of if he wants to continue to do. And we’re hopeful that he does. I believe in my heart that he does, but that ultimately is Patrice’s decision and I’ve been respectful of that since day one and will continue to be until he says ‘let’s get this done.’”
At the age of 36, Bergeron has enjoyed another stellar season, posting 25-40-65 totals while also having a Selke Award-worthy season at both ends of the ice. In his final regular season home game, he potted his 400th career goal.
Sweeney has done a decent job of adding some impact veterans in Taylor Hall, Hampus Lindholm and Linus Ullmark so that the loss of core players – Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Torey Krug, Tuukka Rask – has not brought on the “cliff” that everyone has feared for this team. But if Bergeron decides to retire – a decision he’s certainly earned without the need for any apologies – it would leave a pretty big hole in the B’s lineup. There is no No. 1 center in waiting who could be plugged in there.
Bergeron said he’s had no problem compartmentalizing this season while not letting the looming decision affect his play.
“Honestly, I’ve done a good job of staying in the moment. I think that’s where I’m at right now, still. Being ready for Game 1 of the playoffs and that’s all I’m actually focused on,” said Bergeron.
Ullmark to start
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed the worst-kept secret on Sunday. Ullmark will be the B’s Game 1 starter on Monday against the Hurricanes at PNC Arena.
With the way Ullmark finished up the season, it was really a no-brainer. In the month of April, he went 5-1 with a .950 save percentage and 1.41 goals against average.
What would precipitate a change in goal remains to be seen, but his competition with rookie Jeremy Swayman is part of what brought Ullmark to this point after having a so-so start to his first season as a Bruin.
“He’s gotten better as the year’s gone on. You can say that’s part competition, part of getting comfortable being a Bruin. Could be a lot of different things. But I certainly think competition is one of them,” said Cassidy. “We’ve had both goalies play almost an equal amount of games and minutes. Tuukka was in the mix there for a while so there’s competition there. I don’t know how much he had in Buffalo. To get the net there, he had to have had some. But here he trended very well for us. You want to be playing your best hockey as the playoffs near and I think you could certainly say he is.”
Forward depth a question
Sweeney’s add of Lindholm at the deadline has been a home run thus far, but not adding a forward puts them in a rather vulnerable position. The extra forwards with the team are Anton Blidh and Chris Wagner. If they lost a to bottom six forward, either one of those players could jump in. But a top six guy would be tough to replace.
“Injuries, war of attrition are always part of the playoffs. You lose key components and players that impact the game on all sides, then it’s going to be a challenge, right?” said Sweeney. “We balanced adding players at the deadline that would displace current players in what situations they were playing in, minus the obvious predictive modeling of trying to see who might get hurt, which we can’t do.
“You’ve got your fingers crossed that you stay healthy. As a group I think we’re fine depth-wise, but time will tell.”
Wagner, meanwhile, made his Boston season debut in the regular season finale in Toronto after being sent to Providence at the end of training camp. With 11 hits, he demonstrated that he wanted to stay, and he has.
“He was patient about things. Not happy about things, but a really good soldier and leader, which was important for our organization,” said Sweeney. “He just kept asking me if he was playing well and he’s on top of his game, is he a part of it moving forward. I’ve always told him, ultimately the coach decides the lineup. But that being said, if you’re playing your best, he’s going to put players in that are going to help him win, especially as the intensity ramps up and Chris can provide what he does. He did that in the very last game of the year and earned his right to be a part of this group going forward. He’s happy about it, we’re happy about it and the players he plays with are happy about it.”
Andersen ruled out for Game 1
The Hurricanes will not have their Vezina Trophy candidate goalie Frederik Andersen to start the series. He suffered a lower body injury in Colorado on April 16 and has not played since then. Coach Rod Brind’Amour said Andersen skated on his own on Sunday but is not ready to play. Brind’Amour didn’t announce a starter, though veteran Antti Raanta is expected to get the call. The Canes also have rookie Pyotr Kochetkov, who played three games for Carolina.
Also, fourth-liner Martin Necas took his second straight “maintenance” day. Veteran Derek Stepan skated in his spot with Jordan Martin and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
If you ask any Bruin, they will tell you that what happened in the regular season doesn’t matter. The playoffs are a brand new season. Wipe the slate clean.
They would say that, of course. In three meetings against the Carolina Hurricanes this year, the B’s went 0-3 and were outscored 16-1.
But the talk of cleanslatin’ it from the B’s is not just wishful thinking. The Canes have not played the B’s as they are currently constituted. The last time they played, Brad Marchand was suspended and Patrice Bergeron was injured. And Hampus Lindholm was not yet a Bruin before the season series was concluded. The Canes will be seeing a much different Bruins team.
On top of that, the status of the Canes’ Vezina Trophy candidate Frederik Andersen is up in the air.
Is all that enough to tip the scales all the way in the Bruins’ favor? Who knows. But those factors make this series a lot more interesting than the regular season would indicate.