(Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

By: Nathan Anderson | Follow me on Twitter @nathandrsn

With NHL free agency officially opening on July 13, many Bruins fans anxiously awaited news on not one but two fan-favorite players. Of course, I am speaking about David Krejci, who has been rumored to be making his return from Czechia (formerly the Czech Republic), and captain Patrice Bergeron. Both players have been heavily rumored to be signing with the Bruins at least for this year in hopes of making one last run at the Stanley Cup.

The problem, however, is that it did not play out that way. We are a whole week past the “free agent frenzy” day, and still, both guys are unrestricted free agents. There was even a report that Bergeron had not yet decided if he would come back or not, which contradicted prior reports, giving fans even more anxiety. At first, I thought, “maybe the Bruins are just focusing on doing other business before officializing the rumors.” Now though, I am starting to worry a bit about what is happening behind the scenes.

Outside of hockey, I also watch a lot of soccer. My favorite team is Manchester United. For those who do not follow soccer, just bear with me for a paragraph or two; I will bring it all full circle soon. Manchester United has a player named Cristiano Ronaldo who has won almost everything there is to win. Recently though, the team has struggled, and the management has not been ambitious in improving the team. Because of this, Ronaldo has reportedly been exploring options elsewhere.

This is exactly what I am worried about happening with the Bruins. A while ago, I wrote an article evaluating Patrice Bergeron’s options from his perspective (or trying to). In that article, I mentioned that if the Bruins do not improve significantly, it probably is not really worth coming back for him, given his previous injury history especially.

I do not think it is entirely impossible that Bergeron told the Bruins he was willing to come back if it seemed like the right situation, but after seeing what Don Sweeney and Cam Neely have done so far decided to slow down the process. The same idea could be applied to David Krejci. When comparing his options, Krejci would essentially be comparing playing in front of his family in his home country to playing for a team he may notnably believe is ready to compete for a Stanley Cup.

I obviously have no insight as to how true this really is. This is purely me being paranoid because we were told that the team had deals in place and would announce them shortly and are now waiting around for over a week. This article could age very poorly if the team decides to announce both guys in a few days, but I would much rather that happen than be right about this situation.

I do not think the Bruins’ management has been bad so far. If they can find a way to sign Pavel Zacha, stay under the salary cap, and sign Bergeron and Krejci, I think they have improved from last season. Have they improved enough to win the Stanley Cup? I do not know about that, but it would certainly be an improvement over last season and probably over the 2020-2021 season as well. It would be the best team the Bruins have had potentially since their Cup Final run in 2019.

Do Bergeron and Krejci see it that way, though? It seems odd that if their intention is to sign with the Bruins, it would take this long. Maybe they truly are still undecided. Perhaps something else is going on. All we can do as fans is speculate, and unfortunately, that is causing a lot of anxiety, at least for me.