Patrice Bergeron
The final player and not surprisingly, yet another key core piece over the past decade with the Boston Bruins is top-line center man, Patrice Bergeron.
He already sits fourth all-time for most appearances as a Boston Bruins player, his 1028 games only 24 behind third all-time and the current General Manager, Don Sweeney. Expect to see some sort of nod as that torch is no doubt passed.
Whether he eventually can contest first and second on that list depends on both how long he continues playing and whether he remains fit and healthy over that time. By season’s end, presuming he is ever-present, he will still be 326 short of Johnny Buyck in second spot on 1436 appearances.
Ray Bourque on 1518 would still be 408 games ahead or the equivalent of an iron-man streak across another five NHL seasons.
If Bergeron follows the example of the current team captain, Zdeno Chara; it’s a goal he can set himself, however you have to question whether he can maintain the level that is required at center to make it. That and whether it’s selfish to hold onto a spot if his form does drop off, especially with the likes of John Beecher likely to be coming through the system by then.
Patrice Bergeron, aside from overtaking Sweeney on the all-time appearances list will undoubtedly also hit the milestone of 500 assists as a Boston Bruin. He needs just eight more to join the company of Bourque, Buyck, Orr, Espoisto, Wayne Cashman and Rick Middleton.
Tracking his assists last season, he was managing 0.72 assists per game playing on a line with Marchand and David Pastrnak. If all remains the same, expect him to tally assist number five hundred on October 30th at home to the San Jose Sharks.
Should Zdeno Chara retire at the completion of this season, also expect him to finally be named captain of the team after being the captain-in-waiting for the large majority of his Boston Bruins career. A worthy milestone to look toward.
All statistics courtesy of QuantHockey.