Snapshots: Bergeron, Kostopoulos, Novak

The hockey world exploded last night when a report surfaced from Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette indicating that Patrice Bergeron had decided to return for one more year with the Boston Bruins. While nothing has been announced yet, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and Matt Porter of the Boston Globe reported that Bruins general manager Don Sweeney will meet with Bergeron next week.

There’s no doubt that getting the five-time Selke Trophy winner back would improve the Bruins chances of contending next season, though they will still be starting the year without key players like Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy after recent surgeries. The team also needs a head coach in the meantime, with Porter writing that David Quinn, Jim Montgomery, and Jay Leach are currently the leading candidates.

• The Pittsburgh Penguins have promoted Tom Kostopoulos to director of player development, following the departure of Scott Young to the Vancouver Canucks earlier today. Kostopoulos has been with the organization as a development coach for the past four seasons and had previously played in the system as captain of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The team also promoted Madison Nikkel to video coach.
• Minnesota Wild prospect Pavel Novak has announced that he was recently diagnosed with an oncological disease and will begin treatment soon, pushing back any of his offseason training. The 20-year-old forward had a great season for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL and would have likely been part of the Czech World Junior roster this summer, after being named to it in December before the tournament was postponed. Selected 146th overall in 2020, Novak is confident that he will be able to resume his playing career at some point.