When I wrote this column last year, the big take on the Boston Bruins was pretty straightforward:

“They’re really good, but most of their best players are getting a bit long in the tooth, and they have some personnel decisions that may just be out of their hands.”

This year, that’s not entirely true. More so than last year, a number of their best players are actually just in their mid-to-late-20s, and there’s only one personnel decision that’s out of their hands. But, as it turns out, that one decision is really, really important. We can say it’s maybe the single biggest question in the entire NHL offseason: “What happens with Patrice Bergeron?”

The future first-ballot Hall-of-Fame centre will be both 37-years-old and an unrestricted free agent in July, and this is the time in a player’s care