Suzuki Jokingly Says He’ll Try To Lure Bergeron To Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens all-star center Nick Suzuki jokingly said that he may try and lure Boston Bruins captain and Atlantic Division all-star teammate, Patrice Bergeron, to sign with the Habs as an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

For the first time since entering the NHL in the 2003-04 season, Bergeron, 36, can become an unrestricted free agent in July. The L’Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec native was a longtime client of new Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes when Hughes was an NHL player agent. Following practice Friday, Suzuki, who has and still tries to model his game after the four-time Selke Trophy winner, was jokingly asked if he might try and convince Hughes to sign his former client?

“I don’t know, we’ll see what happens,” the lone all-star for the Montreal Canadiens replied. “He’s been a Bruin for his whole career so. …I don’t know what the chances are that we get him but obviously, it would be cool to play with him. We’re on the same team for the all-star game so maybe I’ll chat with him there.”

C'est au tour de Nick Suzuki de répondre aux questions des journalistes.

It’s Nick Suzuki's turn to field questions from the media.#GoHabsGo https://t.co/YR9ChHFpue

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 28, 2022

Prior to the 2021-22 season, Bergeron told the media that had chosen to not sign an extension with the Bruins so that he could play out this current season and see where he and the team are at in July in terms of going forward.

“I’m going to play out this year and then talk about [contract matters] after,” Bergeron said back on September 8. “It’s something that a lot of people have asked me this summer, and the way that I approach it this year is to just concentrate on this year. I have a year left on my contract and I think it would be useless for me to think about the [long term] future. I want to create something special. We want to work toward winning a Stanley Cup. I know everybody says that, but that’s definitely our goal as a team. I think it’s better to be in that group of [playoff] teams and I think that’s where my focus is right now.”

About a month later, Bergeron made it clear that as of then, he did not envision retiring after this season.

“It’s the same,” the Bruins captain said. “Every time I’m away from hockey, I miss it. I want to go back to it. I want to read about it. I want to learn some things. It’s part of my DNA. That passion is definitely still there. The day that it won’t, it’ll be the day to stop doing this. It’s important to do it for a reason and have that drive and will to get up and better yourself and help your team as much as possible.”