Mark Recchi has been around the league long enough to know how to mentor star rookies. And this year in Boston, the 42-year-old winger is going to be working with one of the game's future All-Stars in forward Tyler Seguin.
Recchi and Seguin were flanking Patrice Bergeron during Monday's Black vs. White scrimmage at TD Garden.
"It was good," said Recchi. "He can skate and he's skilled. And obviously Bergie I know like the back of my hand. It was great being out there with them. He made a great play to Bergie. He's going to be a heck of a player."
And
might that trio make a heck of a combination during the regular season?
It's too early for those decisions, but the chemistry they showed on
Monday has been duly noted by head coach Claude Julien.
"I think when you look at Bergie and Recchi
last year, putting somebody on that wing that will give them a little
bit more of an offensive punch would definitely be something we'd want
to look at."
Bergeron and Recchi could benefit from playing with a talented offensive player like Seguin, but Seguin could reap even greater rewards by skating with the likes of Bergeron and Recchi.
"When you play with a centerman like Bergie, he's so good at both ends of the rink he can really help his development," said Recchi.
"We can talk to him and help him and just let him have fun. Go out
there and enjoy, that's the biggest thing. You can talk to him about
things he can work on, but at the same time keep it positive."
Bergeron noted that he got a lot out of skating with veterans Glen Murray and Sergei Samsonov in his first scrimmage as a rookie, while Recchi learned at the hands of greats Bryan Trottier and Joe Mullen as a youngster in Pittsburgh.
"I
had Bryan Trottier and Joey Mullen when I first came up," said Recchi.
"I sat in between them and it was great for me. I think [then Penguins
coach] Bob Johnson did that for a reason. Trotts used to make me
late for practice all the time because he'd talk my ear off. But coach
never say a word to me ever because he knew we were sitting there
talking. It was great."
The Bruins hope Recchi and Bergeron can have a similar impact on Seguin, who seems more than open to that sort of mentoring.
"When
you're playing with two guys who are very good at hockey and they're
both well-known, very well respected off the ice, you sit there with
them on the bench and on the ice and hear what they have to say," said Seguin.
"We had a couple of great plays and I felt like there was a connection
there. It was only one day, but it felt great out there."
