The every increasing likelihood of a player spending their entire career with one team has become much less as the league continues in a direction that promotes player movement. Sean McIndoe reviews 16 players with current long term ties to one organization and handicaps the likelihood of them finishing a career as a one team player. The 16 equate to approximately just 2% of players for the entire league. Of that number just a handful are given better than a 75% chance of realizing a one team connection. Signs of inching closer and closer to dinosaur type status being somewhere on the horizon.
Bergeron is of course on that list and the review contained the following comments on his situation.
(Thought the Cashman reference was somewhat surprising given the Bruins long history and in comparison to the leagues list of one team longevity rankings.)
"Patrice Bergeron, Bruins
The tenure: 899 games dating back to 2003
Why they’ll make it: He’s a great player locked into a long-term contract at a tough-but-reasonable cap hit. The Bruins have their share of issues, but Bergeron isn’t one of them.
Why they won’t: He’s only 31, so there’s lots of runway left here. And it’s fair to say that the Bruins have had an, um, unusual history with star players. That usually involves trading them away early in their career, and Bergeron somehow survived that stretch in Boston. But if Bourque and Orr could wind up elsewhere, surely Bergeron could, too.
Chance of making the one-franchise club: 75%. Wayne Cashman is the all-time leader in games played among players who only suited up for Boston (with 1,027), and he ranks just 265th on the all-time list. But the betting here is that Bergeron sticks around long enough to pass him."
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/goes-brown-nhlers-join-one-franchise-club/
