Bergeron can see Bruins success without him, Krejci

Patrice Bergeron believes that the Boston Bruins are in good hands and will continue to be successful without him, and without center David Krejci too.

"It's a team that, every year, finds a way to always play the same," Bergeron said Wednesday, a day before the Pro-Am Gagne-Bergeron, a charity game held in Quebec City to benefit organizations supporting sick and underprivileged children.

Bergeron, a center and the Bruins captain since the 2020-21 season, announced his retirement July 25 after 19 NHL seasons, all with Boston. Krejci, who has played all 16 of his NHL seasons with the Bruins, retired Monday.

Last season, the Bruins (65-12-5) set NHL records for wins and points (135) in a regular season before their seven-game loss to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference First Round, but this season they could be without their top two centers from 2022-23.

Bergeron believes that his former teammates will manage just fine.

"They're hard to play against because they give up nothing defensively," he said, "and offensively, everyone contributes."

The Bruins haven't addressed the center position this offseason. They brought back forward Milan Lucic, who played for Boston from 2007-15, on a one-year, $1 million contract, and signed forwards James van Riemsdyk (one year, $1 million) and Morgan Geekie (two years, $2 million), and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (1 year, $1.05 million).

However, the Bruins can rely on a productive core. Forward David Pastrnak was second in the NHL with 61 goals last season, behind Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (64), and linemate Brad Marchand had 67 points (21 goals, 46 assists). Boston is well-equipped at defenseman with Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, and Brandon Carlo, and has goalies Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. Ullmark (40-6-1, 1.89 goals-against average, .938 save percentage) won the Vezina trophy voted as the NHL's best goalie last season, and he and Swayman won the William M. Jennings trophy, given annually to the goalies who play a minimum of 25 games for the team allowing the fewest goals in the regular season (177).

"I still expect the same thing from them," Bergeron said. "I've got a lot of confidence in the players who are on the team at the moment. There's a good mix. Some guys have been in Boston for several years now, and they know how to run things and get the new guys to get on the same page as them and to play the Bruins' style. I'm expecting a good season from them."

Bergeron said that he might not follow the Bruins as closely as one might expect this season and that the month of October will probably be difficult for him with the regular season starting. While his former teammates get back to work, Bergeron will have to get acclimated to the life of a retiree.

"I know there's a lot of (personal) work still to do, and when October comes, that'll be another challenge for me," the 38-year-old said. "Right now, everything's great, it's the offseason. But when the time comes for the season to start, when I would normally resume my hockey routine, there's definitely going to be some adjustment on that side. It's something I'll have to deal with at that point.

"But the daily life of a hockey player, I'll definitely miss it. I've said before, there were some mixed emotions for me in retiring. I'm very much at peace with it inside, but I also know that there's a lot of stuff I'm going to miss because that was a childhood dream that I got to live for 20 years. It's a passion."

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This is the 15th edition of the Pro-Am Gagné-Bergeron, but the last to be organized by Bergeron and former NHL forward Simon Gagne.

The game, which brings together professional and amateur players, has raised nearly $4 million over the years to benefit Leucan, Le Pignon Bleu, the Philippe Boucher Foundation and the Maurice Tanguay Foundation.

"The most gratifying thing about this whole thing is to be able to give back to a community where I grew up and which has given so much to Simon and myself," said Bergeron, a native of L'Ancienne-Lorette, a suburb of Quebec City. "The young children that we're helping, the people from the foundations … those are the things that have touched me. I'm proud of how much this event has grown."

From a personal standpoint, the evening will have a symbolic meaning for Bergeron, who will get to take the ice wearing a Bruins uniform. He will be accompanied by former teammates Marchand, Carlo, Swayman, Matt Grzelcyk and Connor Clifton to face off against a team led by Montreal Canadiens defenseman David Savard.

"It truly will be special to put the uniform back on for one night," Bergeron said. "I think that it's about seven or eight of us on the Bruins who are really good friends, so we're going to have a real great night taking the ice together."