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BOSTON – Sean Kuraly is under no illusions.

The veteran forward is well aware that the Bruins team he is returning to is far different than the one he left four years ago.

Gone are Black & Gold legends Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, and Brad Marchand. So, too, are former fourth-line brethren Noel Acciari, Joakim Nordstrom, Tim Schaller, and Chris Wagner.

And while David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy still remain from the team that, six years ago, fell one game short of a Stanley Cup title, a new chapter of Bruins history is beginning.

It’s a challenge that Kuraly is fully embracing as he returns to Causeway Street.

“It seems like a fun challenge to do all we can to start a new chapter,” said Kuraly, who on Tuesday signed a two-year contract with an annual NHL cap hit of $1.85 million to rejoin the Black & Gold.

“It’s cool to be coming back with that opportunity and with a group that seems to have a lot of potential and a lot of good players that have been around. I have a ton of respect for some of the players that I haven’t played with on this team that I know are hard to play against.

“I’m just looking forward to the challenge. A lot of the fun is to make strides and move it in a positive direction. I’m really looking forward to that.”

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      Sean Kuraly speaks to the media after signing a two year contract with the Bruins.

      Kuraly spent the first five seasons of his NHL career with the Black & Gold, notching 24 goals and 68 points across 270 games. The 32-year-old played mostly in a fourth-line center capacity, though his flare for the dramatic became commonplace as he delivered several memorable goals, among them the winners at the 2019 Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium and in Game 1 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

      “I think we have a pretty special bond,” Kuraly said of that 2019 team and, in particular, his line that included Acciari, Nordstrom, and Wagner. “It was a really effective line and kind of, for me, the way I learned that I could be effective in this league…[I’m] lucky to have been able to have done something like that so early in my career, to be shown how to be effective with my skillset.

      “Hopefully that’s something that we can do again and we’re gonna have to do again to get this where we want it to go.”

      Bruins general manager Don Sweeney could sense the eagerness Kuraly exuded as they discussed a return to the Spoked-B.

      “Sean was really excited today to be coming back,” Sweeney said on Tuesday afternoon at Warrior Ice Arena. “He knows what we’re trying to do. He’s been here and grown up as a player in the National Hockey League, cut his teeth under that leadership. He’s now in that leadership category. He knows a lot of these guys. It’s plug and play for him too.

      “There’s an energy piece of it, there’s a penalty killing, stability aspect with Sean. He can play little bit up and down, both left wing and center. He’s good on draws. He’s also a guy that takes a lot of pride in professionalism on and off the ice.

      “We had great knowledge of him…I think it aligns pretty well for us.”

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          BOS@CHI: Kuraly nets rebound in front for 3-2 lead

          The Ohio native comes back to Boston having spent the last four seasons with his hometown Blue Jackets, for whom he set career-highs in 2021-22 – his first with the club – when he notched 14 goals and 30 points. His role in Columbus was one that included more of a leadership position as he helped guide a young Blue Jackets team back towards playoff contention.

          “My time in Columbus was no different than now,” Kuraly said as he compared the Bruins’ current situation. “We had a ton of younger players, we had a ton of highly skilled, talented young players. It was fun to be around. I think it’s a two-way street with those guys. You can learn just as much from them as you’re trying to teach them.

          “For me it’s just showing up and being myself, do the things that I do and not try and do anything outside of that, be yourself, do your thing and hopefully that’s a good example for a younger player in this league.”

          Kuraly, of course, learned from the best in that regard.

          “Being in Boston before, I was lucky enough to be around a few of those Hall of Famers that just by chance I was in that locker room and got to learn from them as a young player in this league - Bergeron, Chara, Krejci, and David Backes, and Marchy and that whole crew,” said Kuraly.

          “Just to be able to be around them, I realized how lucky I am and how lucky I was. Now, if you can be some sort of help to the next wave, that’s what you’d like to do.”

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              STL@BOS, Gm1: Kuraly puts Bruins ahead in 3rd

              Kuraly also knows he’ll have Pastrnak and McAvoy by his side as they aim to maintain the standard that was set over the last two decades before last season’s postseason absence.

              “Having those players and [Jeremy Swayman] was there so I’m familiar with him and I obviously played with Andrew Peeke in Columbus, and just some really good additions on the team from then on,” said Kuraly. “It’s really exciting when you have what we have at every position. You get around the League and realize how much respect those players have.

              “To be able to have those players on your team is a chance I didn’t want to pass up. I know them as people too so that’s just all the better. Really just an opportunity I’m excited to be a part of.”

              Kuraly added that his time in Columbus helped him learn a great deal about how to manage adversity. After making the playoffs in each of his five seasons with the Bruins, Kuraly did not experience any postseason hockey with the Blue Jackets.

              “We went through some tough years in Columbus, I think you can learn a lot in those tough years,” said Kuraly. “Just realizing and trying to stay within yourself. The team is struggling or can’t win games, you learn a lot about not trying to do too much or not trying to do more than you’re capable. Just staying within yourself. That’s one thing I had to learn.

              “We had so much success in Boston, then in Columbus it was a lot of learning. It teaches you a lot, it teaches you patience, it teaches you that these little things that the older guys in Boston taught me are really the key to the bigger picture.”

              Now, Kuraly will have his chance to impart all that he has learned across his nine-year NHL career on a Bruins team that is in a period of transition.

              “Boston, I’ve always had soft sport for the city, the organization, the team,” said Kuraly. “When we heard from them it was definitely a spot where I could see myself and wanted to end up. I think conversations through my agent and through Sweens and from the organization were about wanting guys that were gonna compete and be there every day and practice hard and do all that sort of stuff.

              “With a lot of opportunity and getting back to some of the things that the Bruins have done in past years to be successful. And joining some of the awesome pieces that are already on the team, it was a pretty easy sell for me. Was really excited to get that phone call.”

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                  TOR@BOS, Gm7: Kuraly pots one top shelf on the rush

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