Set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2021, David Krejci has no plans to retire when his six-year, $43.5 million contract expires after next season.
“Well my contract expires after next year. Whatever happens with this season and then one more and then we’ll see. I’m not planning on retiring, that’s for sure. I want to play after that,” Krejci said Monday on a Zoom session with Bruins media. “How long or what’s going to happen, I don’t know. I guess we’ll see what happens after that next year. Definitely not planning on going into the next season as it being my last.”
Currently sitting as the Bruins’ highest paid forward, Krejci set a career high in assists (53) last season, while matching his career high point total with 73. Through 61 games in 2019-20, Krejci has 13 goals and 30 assists for 43 points.
Although Krejci’s season individually hasn’t been as fruitful as it was last year, the Bruins as a team have been equally as successful as they were last season. Rolling into the final stretch of the regular season before the league’s shutdown, Krejci hopes he and his teammates have the chance to finish what they started.
Looking to pass time and fill his hockey fix, Krejci has been a frequent flyer on YouTube, rewatching highlights from the Bruins previous 70 games.
“I watch YouTube highlights or things like that pretty much every single day. We were in a really good position with 10 games left or maybe 12, pretty big lead. Obviously we were feeling pretty good,” said Krejci.
“How far we went last year in playoffs and the way we were doing so far this year, we were obviously feeling pretty good about ourselves. That’s a little frustrating, but at the same time if you throw on the TV, turn CNN on, you see the bigger picture and its put life into perspective that there’s actually more important things than hockey.”
As the league continues to find ways to safely return to the ice,
everything remains on the table. But if hockey is to return sooner, rather than later, it sounds like games will have to be played across four neutral arenas, and with no fans.
It’s not an idea Krejci loves, but if that’s what it takes to drop the puck, then so be it.
“Not really sure if I’m a fan of being at one arena, bunch of teams. But we all want to finish the season so whatever is going to be the best scenario, the safest place, the safest way to finish the season then I guess that’s what we’ll have to do,” said Krejci. “But at the same time it would be a little more challenging for players that have families, kids. So I don’t really know how that would work out, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
It certainly would be eerie watching NHL games without fans in the stands, or seeing the Bruins playing the Lightning with the Oilers logo painted across center ice. But the oddest sight for sure would be seeing the Stanley Cup winners skating around the ice with the cup, no fans in the background.
“That would be weird, fans are a big part of the sport. Without the fans it wouldn’t be the way it is now, it wouldn’t have the integrity I guess. But if that’s what we’re going to have to do, then it’s what we’re going to have to do,” said Krejci. “I’m sure people would watch on TV, but yeah, it would be a little bit different. You always think about winning the cup, lifting it up with a crowd there. But I understand it’s not possible right now, it’s just, it is what it is, there’s more important things right now.”
As one of several Bruins who are closer to the end than they are the beginning of their careers, Krejci would hate to pass up another opportunity at a cup.
“You definitely want to finish the season, especially the older you get you don’t know how many more seasons you’re going to have left, and it being so close to the playoffs, having another crack at it. You don’t want to wash the season off and then start a new one. Definitely want to finish it, especially with the team we have this year, being on top of the standings with 10 games left in the regular season, it would be nice to finish the season off,” said Krejci.
When players are able to safely return to the ice, it’s going to take time for players to get back into game shape physically. But mentally, Krejci doesn’t think getting back to the correct mental state will be much of an issue.
“Mentally you want to be back playing. I miss hockey, everyone misses hockey. I know all the players, fans, everyone, right? If you’re going to finish the season, you might only have a few games left then playoffs, you don’t have to look for extra motivation, it’s right there,” said Krejci.
“I think in Boston, we have so many good leaders, coaching staff. There just making sure that everyone’s ready for every single game. You’re not going to win 82 games and 16 games in the playoffs in a row, but they’ve done a really good job of making sure we’re ready. I don’t think that will be any issue, we just got to do our part at home.”
Hopefully by everyone doing their part at home, things can get back to normal rather quickly, with hockey being one of those.
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