Reporter shares story on how the Bruins acquired the pick that was used to draft Patrice Bergeron

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Mike Armenti
July 26, 2023 (10:17)

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The Boston Bruins dominated the headlines on Tuesday following the announcement that captain an career Bruin Patrice Bergeron had retired from the NHL after 1,294 career regular season games, 170 career playoff games, 6 Selke Trophies and a Stanley Cup, among several other impressive career accomplishments both in the NHL and in international play.

Bergeron, for as much as he accomplished in the game, was revered as one of the best two-way players to ever play the game - perhaps even THE best. All of this from a player who wasn't even a first round pick.

According to TSN's Gord Miller, there's something even more special about Bergeron and how he ended up being drafted by the Bruins. The pick used to draft him didn't even originally belong to the Bruins. As Miller pointed out on Tuesday, it was actually a compensatory draft pick.

"Until 2005, teams received a compensatory draft pick if one of their players left as a free agent. In 2002, Boston's Bill Guerin signed with Dallas, Boston was awarded a compensatory 2003 second round pick, 45th overall. The Bruins used it to select Patrice Bergeron." Miller said.

After this news surfaced, a large number of hockey fans are wondering why compensatory picks aren't still a thing. After all, when a team is losing a good player via free agency, sometimes it's through no fault of their own. Take Johnny Gaudreau in Calgary, for example. The Flames did everything in their power to try to keep the player, but Gaudreau had his mind set on testing the free agent market and the Flames ended up with nothing.

Truth be told, I have no idea why compensatory picks are no longer something offered by the league. Maybe, at some point down the line, we could see them re-integrated into the CBA somehow, perhaps when negotiating a new CBA. Nevertheless, the Bruins got a special one in Bergeron with that pick.