NEWTON, Mass. – It’s been a pretty natural connection to make between 21-year-old rookie center Fraser Minten and one of the most beloved players in Boston Bruins history. Nobody throws around comparisons to Patrice Bergeron lightly, but Minten showed a lot of Bergy-like qualities while posting 17 goals and 35 points along with a plus-21 in playing 82 games for the Black and Gold this past season.
The comparisons don’t begin and end with the offensive numbers right now, though, as they’re also about the details in Minten’s game that are pretty rare for a player so young in his NHL development. Minten is a true 200-foot player who shows defensive reliability and intuitive positioning, and he continues to improve in the faceoff game — a skill that will naturally get better as he gains experience and years in the league.
It was very telling when Minten remained at his center spot playing for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championships, where he had a strong showing as a bottom-six center for a stacked Canadian roster.
Even Bergeron himself sees some of the similarities after working one-on-one with Minten.
“I do like his game. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit this year just in the few times I was around and at the rink this year. I was on the ice with him once and otherwise we’ve talked faceoffs a little bit,” said Bergeron at the Cam Neely Foundation Golf Tournament at Charles River Country Club on Monday morning. “I was really impressed with how he wanted to learn and improve and ask questions. He was really taking everything in, and it was great to see.
“He’s obviously got a bright future and he’s got great potential. He did great this year and I know there is more to come with him … more growth. It’s great to see in a guy that age to want to work and improve on things to make him better.”
Bergeron had a very similar 16 goals and 39 points in his rookie season in Boston as an 18-year-old kid but evolved his game into a No. 1 center and bumper man on the power play, turning his one-timer into a certified weapon in the slot. Minten has a similar set of raw tools offensively as Bergeron did around the same age, so it will be up to him to put in the same kind of work to elevate them as No. 37 did over his legendary career.
But given Minten’s diligent nature and the mature approach he’s already taking at such a young age, it would be wise to keep investing in a player that feels like he is going to continue significant improvement before approaching his prime NHL years in his late 20s.
“He’s doing things that you can’t really teach and that’s the important part at that age. To be conscientious of his defense and making sure he’s always on the right side of the ice, and by doing that he creates some offense too,” said Bergeron. “As the year progressed, it was almost like his positioning helped him get some Grade-A chances and some rebounds, or being open for good shots.
“I think he realizes by taking the defensive side seriously you’re able to also contribute offensively, and I think I’d be the first to say that even if you’re not getting the same numbers, you are helping the team just as much. I think he’s seen that. There’s a lot of growth and you saw the progression as the year was going on.”
Minten and 19-year-old James Hagens face a key offseason in their NHL careers as both players enter into a situation next season where the Bruins have already admitted they have a clear-cut need for a No. 1 center. Elias Lindholm has fallen short of that expectation after signing a long-term contract in free agency, and Pavel Zacha has settled very comfortably into a second-line center role, where he scored a career-high 30 goals last season entering the final year of his deal.
But the Bruins are at a crossroads in their roster development where they must decide if their young in-house candidates to be a top-line center would be better than chasing after a number of top-six centers becoming available on the trade market. Unfortunately for the Bruins, it sounds like Dylan Larkin isn’t going to be a viable candidate after reports surfaced that the Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers are the only three teams the 29-year-old veteran would waive his no-trade clause to join.
So it may be that Boston’s best play is to continue waiting and watching Minten develop on a gradual path at the center position, a journey which would not be dissimilar at all to Bergeron’s pathway to becoming an eventual Hall of Famer.
“Why not?” said Marco Sturm said last month when asked if Minten could develop in that way. “Now, it’s still maybe too early to say that. First of all, I will always say it’s always up to the player. If you grab a guy like Minten, who started on the fourth line, and all of a sudden, nobody thought he could be the number two [center]. And all of a sudden, he had a few games at number one.
“So that’s how big a jump he made. We just have to … I think with him, we have to be patient, too. It can’t be like this [big of a jump] every year. Maybe it does. He definitely has potential, let’s put it that way.”
Certainly Bergeron, the player he’s being more and more compared to at a young age, sees what everybody else is seeing, and is looking forward to getting a front row seat to the youngster’s continued development at the B’s pivot spot.
