Bergeron, 35, spent the past season with Zurich of the Swiss League, scoring 25 points in 43 games.
The Quebec-born blue-liner last appeared in the NHL in 2012-13, splitting time between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes, scoring nine points in 25 games.
Vancouver, BC – The Canucks for Kids Fund (CFKF) is pleased to announce over $2.6 million was raised during the 2015.16 season, thanks to the support and donations from fans, partners and generous supporters.
“On behalf of the Canucks for Kids...
Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, assistant general manager Bill Zito, and president of hockey operations John Davidson have each signed two-year contract extensions through the 2018-19 season, reports Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch.
Davidson joined the team in October 2012 and hired Kekalainen four months later.
The Blue Jackets have made the playoffs once since the duo took over, a first-round loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014.
Though the team has been unable to build off that postseason appearance, finishing 11th and 15th in the Eastern Conference in the two seasons since, Columbus, slowly but surely, appears to be trending upward.
"This (extension) gives us an opportunity to keep doing what we’ve been trying to build," Kekalainen said. "It’s a process that will take its time, but we’re on our way."
The Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie (now Cleveland) Monsters, won the Calder Cup, and the club added 2016 third overall pick Pierre-Luc Dubois to a promising group of prospects.
Anze Kopitar will don the "C" a tad earlier than expected.
After being promoted to leader of the Los Angeles Kings earlier in the offseason, the 29-year-old Slovenian was named captain of Team Europe's World Cup of Hockey squad Tuesday.
Kopitar is one of the most accomplished players on Europe's roster, with two Stanley Cups to his name. He's coming off a 74-point season in which he earned the Selke Trophy for the league's best two-way forward, along with the Lady Byng.
Andersen - who was traded to the Maple Leafs in June - suffered an upper-body injury in pre-Olympic qualifying, and was given a three-to-four week recovery period.
Heading into the remodeled World Cup of Hockey, Team Sweden owns one of the most experienced rosters in the tournament.
Sweden boasts a promising combination of youth and experience up front, and the talent on the blue line is flat-out remarkable.
Swedish NHL legends Mats Sundin, Nicklas Lidstrom, Peter Forsberg, and Daniel Alfredsson are among the advisors that helped pick the roster, and here's how we imagine the lines will look when Sweden opens its tournament Sept. 18 versus Russia.
Forwards
LW
C
RW
Mikael Backlund
Nicklas Backstrom
Gabriel Landeskog
Carl Hagelin
Filip Forsberg
Patric Hornqvist
Daniel Sedin
Henrik Sedin
Loui Eriksson
Rickard Rakell
Marcus Kruger
Jakob Silfverberg
Carl Soderberg
With more centers and left wingers than on the right side, Sweden's roster will require some tinkering.
No surprises here, "The King" will be between the pipes for the Tre Kronor, and will be a key factor in how far this team goes.
Power Play
Unit
LW
C
RW
LD
RD
1
Forsberg
Backstrom
Hornqvist
Karlsson
Hedman
2
D. Sedin
H. Sedin
Eriksson
Ekholm
Ekman-Larsson
Backstrom can commandeer a man-advantage with the best of them, and he'll surely control the top unit. Forsberg steps in for added offense, while Karlsson and Hedman can play on their opposite sides for one-timer opportunities.
Penalty Kill
Unit
C
F
LD
RD
1
Kruger
Hagelin
Hedman
Stralman
2
Forsberg
Eriksson
Ekholm
Hjalmarsson
Kruger is likely to be called upon for high-leverage faceoffs, and can stay on the ice as a reliable penalty killer. Hagelin's speed is always a threat, and the familiarity of Hedman and Stralman should bode well for Sweden while down a man.
The on-ice aftermath of P.K. Subban's move from Montreal to Nashville has yet to be seen, but the shock of the offseason's biggest deal lingers on.
And while Subban's trade to the Predators for Shea Weber drew the ire of many Canadiens fans, the team's most important player sees things differently.
Goaltender Carey Price believes Weber better fits Montreal's mold, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports, in an article exploring the behind-the-scenes of June's mega-deal.
"I was shocked like everyone else. But I had an idea that it was possible," Price said. "The way our game is structured and the way P.K. plays … we’re headed in a different direction.
"P.K. is an offensive defenseman and a risk-taker," he continued. "That’s made him successful, that’s the way he plays the game. He doesn’t want to change that and I respect that. I respect the way that he plays the game … his type of enthusiasm and his ability to raise fans out of their seats. That’s a special gift and something that not very many players are able to do. But the way we’re coached on our team, the way our team is structured, that’s not what were looking for. We’re looking for a steady type of defenseman that makes quick plays and is able to move the puck right away. Shea fits that bill perfectly."
While Montreal's tumultuous 2015-16 season may be defined by the resulting Subban trade, the loss of Price after a first-place October was paramount to the Canadiens' free-fall down the Eastern Conference standings.
Price played behind Weber at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and will do so again at September's World Cup of Hockey, before the pair teams up in Montreal.
"On the Fly," theScore's NHL roundtable series, checks in with a World Cup installment, discussing the vacant captaincy of Team North America.
The North Americans remain without an official leader. That'll be the case for a few more days, according to head coach Todd McLellan.
"We've spent all of about 12 hours together, 15, 18 hours," he told NHL.com's Tim Campbell in Montreal. "So it's hard to give you a timeline or an estimate."
So, while we wait, here are our picks for the man to wear the "C":
Yes, it makes sense for McDavid to lead the team, since he's the game's next prolific star and personality. But this is a tournament that will hinge heavily on experience and, well, he doesn't have much of it.
Meanwhile, Saad enters the tournament a 23-year-old veteran on the young squad. He's already got four NHL seasons and two Stanley Cup rings on his resume.
Saad knows what it takes to win, and played his first three seasons with one of the league's most revered captains in Jonathan Toews. Saad also has international experience, having played at the World Junior Championship and the U-18 Championship.
The Columbus Blue Jackets forward plays a solid two-way game and can be relied on in all situations. Who better to captain a young team built on offense? Plus, there will already be enough pressure on McDavid.
McDavid
Navin Vaswani: Don't overthink this, Mr. McLellan.
McDavid as captain simply makes too much sense, especially considering McLellan is behind the bench. His North American squad needs a captain, and so too do the Edmonton Oilers. In other words, this is the perfect audition for the coach's best player (on both teams).
Sure, McDavid's only 19, but in addition to proving in his first 45 NHL games that he's "The Next One" on the ice, he also proved adept at handling the pressure and expectations that came with being the No. 1 overall pick in a hockey-mad city like Edmonton.
The kid's already the face of the Oilers, especially after the Taylor Hall trade. He's already a veteran with the media, and is undoubtedly the face of the upstart North American squad, which is going to play fast, exciting, offensive hockey during the World Cup.
So, yeah, it's McDavid. It has to be. McLellan knows it. He's simply being diplomatic, and there's nothing wrong with that. But he knows.
Aaron Ekblad
Sean O'Leary: The only proof that Aaron Ekblad belongs on an Under-23 team is his birth certificate.
The 2014 first overall pick has blossomed into an anchor on the Florida Panthers' blue line, and will be relied upon heavily against top lines and during crucial situations.
North America's abundant skill up front has garnered most of the attention, but Ekblad should wear the "C" as a stabilizing force in a relatively thin defensive corps.
Building off a Calder Trophy in his rookie campaign, Ekblad notched a career-high in goals last season with 15, while averaging 21:41 of ice time for the Atlantic Division champions.
Ekblad is one of the game's most prominent young stars, and is surely in the running for Florida's vacant captaincy, so there's no harm in giving him a head start while the world is watching.
