Krejci returns to Bruins after year in Europe

*Photo from Causeway Crowd*

   He spent a year playing abroad, and that was apparently enough for him. The Boston Bruins and C David Krejci have agreed to a one year, $3 million deal, according to an announcement by the Bruins on Monday.

   After the Covid-19 season in 2021 ended, Krejci returned to his native Czechia, playing for Olomouc in the Czech Extraliga, the highest league in the country. He tallied 20 goals and 26 assists in 51 regular season games, and 3 goals and two assists in 5 playoff games. He played for Czechia both at the IIHF World Championship and the Beijing Olympics in 2022, and now he's back in the NHL.

   Krejci said of coming back to Boston that "When I decided to come back, I had to talk to Don Sweeney, and he let me know he wants me on the team. And I told him that's the team I want to play for, that's the only team I want to play for."

   In his last NHL season in 2021, Krejci tallied 8 goals and 36 assists for the Bruins. He added a +16 plus/minus rating in 17:08 of ice time, playing in 51 regular season games. He tallied two goals and 7 assists in 11 career playoff games.

   Across 15 seasons in the NHL, all with the Bruins, Krejci has 215 goals and 515 assists to his name. He has posted a +143 plus/minus rating in 17:53 of ice time per game in 962 regular season games. Krejci has an additional 42 goals and 82 assists in 156 career playoff games, helping the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in the 2010-2011 season.

   Krejci said of returning that "I'm glad we got it done, but the decision, I have to give credit to Bergy and Pasta. We had so many conversations the last few months about coming back or not and they're the reason why I want to go back and play with those guys again."

   In coming back to Boston, Krejci looks to keep climbing Bruins leaderboards in multiple categories. He is 9th in team history in points with 730, and is also in the top 10 in games played and assists, ranking 7th in both. His 124 career points in the playoffs are 3rd in Bruins history, trailing Patrice Bergeron and Ray Bourque. He ranks second in playoff assists, 3rd in playoff games, and 6th in playoff goals among all time Bruins.

   The signing of Krejci comes after the Bruins also re-signed Patrice Bergeron on a one year deal, and they traded for Pavel Zacha from the New Jersey Devils earlier in the offseason.