Boston Bruins Captain Patrice Bergeron spoke with the media Sunday following the announcement that he won his record-breaking fifth Selke Trophy. During his availability, Bergeron broke the news that he had surgery on his left elbow last week to repair a tendon (link). As NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin writes, Bergeron’s recovery is expected to take 10-12 weeks from the date of the surgery last week, and he is still yet to make up his mind about his future. Interestingly, Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press asked Bergeron why, other than being unsigned, would he be considering retirement, considering the current state of his game. Bergeron responded that being unsigned is in fact the reason he is currently taking the time to consider his future.
The Selke-winner, who has only ever played for the Bruins at the NHL level, is an impending UFA coming off an eight-year, $55MM contract that held an AAV of $6.875MM. After reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, falling to the St. Louis Blues, the Bruins have taken steps back in the past few seasons, and now face difficult questions regarding their salary cap, which could impact Bergeron’s next contract.
- Turning to the PHF, as reported by Jeff Marek on the 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night in Canada last night, the Buffalo Beauts are expected to sign goaltender Kassidy Sauve for the upcoming season. A goaltender who can trace her family roots back to Georges Vezina, Sauve was a standout in the NCAA, spending three seasons with The Ohio State University before transferring to Clarkson University for her final season. Sauve, now 26, had her most impressive season while at Clarkson, posting an eye-popping 1.71 goals-against average and .937 save-percentage in 36 games, compiling a 27-2-7 record. Most recently Sauve splayed for HPK in the Finnish women’s league, where she again had incredible numbers, going 8-0 with a 0.88 goals-against average and .964 save-percentage.
- New York Rangers forward Ryan Strome left today’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning with an apparent injury. Strome took a hit from Tampa’s Ondrej Palat in the second period and immediately appeared to be in distress, heading straight down the tunnel. The Rangers forward was absent for several minutes before returning to take one shift, but indicated to trainers that he could not continue, heading back to the locker room shortly thereafter. In Strome, the Rangers lose a key top-six forward and member of their powerplay; after a 54-point regular season, Strome has added another nine points in 16 playoff games heading into today’s action. Time will tell how significant Strome’s injury is, and though he is yet to be ruled out for the remainder of this game, his initial return only to quickly exit again is not a good sign for the Rangers.
Patrice Bergeron is the only acceptable replacement if the Pens decide for some reason to pass on Geno.
We like to have Hall of Famers centering our second line here.
Third line, too, when we had Trots.
Zero chance Bergeron goes to Pittsburgh. Hilarious that you’d even suggest that.
Or I was using the obvious “not gonna happen” nature of the notion to point out that the Pens need to keep Geno because there is no acceptable available replacement.
And FTR, on the minute chance he leaves Boston, name a more likely landing spot than playing behind his good friend and Team Canada linemate. A 32nd overall Habs team? Maybe.
So, really, when you think about it…Boston fans might as well help him pack his bags for his inevitable trip down 95 over to 80 to 79…maybe send a farewell card. The Beans to Steel upgrade is clearly already a done deal. It’s Bouque to the Avs all over again…except without the Avs this time. The Primanti’s photo op will hit Twitter any minute.
Or, you know, we’ll just keep Malkin.
I just can’t see him going from one aging team that’s past it’s window to another one. If he’s leaving the bruins to go cup chasing he’d probably be better off going to a team that’s significantly better than the Pens, as it’s hard to even say that they’re better than the Bruins.
He’s not going anywhere and the Bruins know it. That’s why he has to threaten to retire to keep his price high rather than threatening to go to market.
Interesting. Wonder if Kassidy Sauve’s related to 1980s Buffalo goaltender Bob Sauve?