"This is a 51-win team last year, so I think the staff did a really good job last year," Montgomery said. "Moving forward, I think there's areas that [can be improved]. I'm hoping with a new, different style -- every coach has a different way of coaching -- that it's going to lead to a little more offense."
The Bruins averaged 3.09 goals per game last season, 15th in the NHL. But in the playoffs, that number dipped to 2.86 goals per game.
"One of the things that kind of stood out early on was Jim's philosophy of getting our defensemen to move a little bit more on the offensive blue line," Neely said. "Whether they end up scoring the goals is going to be one thing, but they can create a little more offense from being fluid on the offensive blue line."
But the changes weren't as seismic as they could have been.
Bergeron, the Bruins captain, signed for $2.5 million with $2.5 million in performance-based bonuses; Krejci signed for $1 million with $2 million in performance-based bonuses. They are expected to center the top two lines, as they did for more than a decade in Boston.
Bergeron, who considered retirement, instead will be back for his 19th NHL season. He scored his 400th goal in his final game of the 2021-22 regular season with a hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 28, and had 65 points (25 goals, 40 assists) in 73 games. He won the Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward in the NHL for a record fifth time.