Bruins' No. 1 center role top priority of offseason

BOSTON -- It's been three years since Patrice Bergeron retired, and the Boston Bruins are still searching for his replacement. 

Even as the Bruins took steps this season, even as they bounced back from finishing tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference in 2024-25 and made the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they acknowledged that there are still many holes that need to be filled, including a lack of high-end talent. 

That starts with a No. 1 center. 

It is possible that the Bruins have one already, in the form of James Hagens or Fraser Minten, that either or both will develop into a top-end player in the way that Bergeron did. It is also possible that the Bruins will have to look elsewhere to fill their most pressing need.

"Whether they either become No. 1 centers is up to them, how that goes for them and what the path is for them," Bruins president Cam Neely said on Wednesday at the team's end-of-season management press conference at TD Garden, referring to Hagens and Minten. "But we want to give these guys every opportunity to take a job that's staring at them.

"We all in this room recognize we don't have a true, No. 1 (center). And that's something that we want to try to rectify, whether it's this offseason or those guys growing into it, but it's something that we know that's needed."

The No. 1 center spot was a revolving door this season, with shifts taken by Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha and Minten. Hagens, who was taken No. 7 in the 2025 NHL Draft, spent the season at Boston College, before signing his entry-level contract and making his debut in the penultimate regular-season game. He played five NHL games this season, including three in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, tallying one assist.

So can Hagens or Minten seize that spot?

"I think they both have that skillset," Neely said. "They're both a little different players. One's more like 'Bergy' as far as a 200-foot player, and maybe not sees the ice as well as Hagens does. Hagens' head is up all the time, he's constantly looking to distribute."

The best-case scenario for the Bruins is that either of those players develops into someone who can man the No. 1 center spot for the foreseeable or long-term future, because it's not an easy spot to fill on the free agent or trade market. 

Not that the Bruins have ever been afraid to take a swing. 

"Even at the Trade Deadline as you're exploring -- whether it's this time or in the summertime -- you realize that when you do make a call about a player of that nature you just described, the guy on the other side says there's not even 32 of them in the League," general manager Don Sweeney said. 

"So we feel pretty good this year that, by committee, our guys did a good job. And Fraser spent some time, 50 games in, he spent some time up in that spot, which is not an easy spot to play in. You're seeing a hell of a lot harder matchups. You're playing with a star player (David Pastrnak). … He did a good job."

Minten finished the season with 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 82 games, earning the trust and high praise of coach Marco Sturm. 

"We're hoping that they hit their high side," Sweeney said. "People originally described Fraser as one player. Why put a ceiling there? We'll see what he's going to do."

Hagens, 19, and Minten, 21, are each headed to the IIHF World Championships, playing for the United States and Canada, respectively, something Sweeney called "really imperative" for Hagens in particular. 

This, however, is not a new issue for the Bruins. It's been there since Bergeron left the game after 19 seasons of playing center for Boston. 

The Bruins tried to solve it two years ago, signing Lindholm on July 1, 2024, to a seven-year contract with an average annual value of $7.75 million. But Lindholm has not been the center they anticipated, partially dogged by back issues for the past two seasons. As Sweeney said, "Now he wants to get back to the level that he believes he's capable of and we believe he's capable of. And injuries are not the player's fault."

But it's not just at center. 

The Bruins need upgrades all over their roster. 

"Obviously, yeah," Neely said, when asked about whether they need more talent. "We got bounced in the first round. So, yeah, we need more talent, we need more speed. That's something we have to try to acquire, in one way shape or form. You look at the elite teams in the League, we're not there."

He added, "When you strip it down like we did (at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline), you're not going to be there in one season. So it's going to take some time, but what we accomplished this year, give the guys credit, but it's building blocks. So we've got work to do to improve this club still."

Ultimately, though, as disappointed as they were with the way the season ended, with the way the Bruins showed up at home in Game 4 especially (6-1 loss), it was a successful season. It was more than most expected, and represented progress for a team that was coming off its roughest season in recent memory.

"Last year when we were in this press conference, it was an awfully difficult one," Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs said. "And I sit here today feeling like we are on the right track."