After 15 seasons in the National Hockey League—all with the Bruins—center David Krejci announced Friday he is returning to the Czech Republic to continue his playing career.

The loss of Krejci is a major one, one that comes just days after the Bruins signed winger Taylor Hall who would have been centered by Krejci to start the upcoming 2021-22 season.

A statement from David Krejci.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/M0djYuRAMb

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) July 30, 2021

The loss of Krejci makes what the Bruins did in free agency a few days ago less potent, weakening the depth at forward that the Bruins built on day one of free agency.

A full season of Hall, Krejci and Craig Smith would have been fun to watch, seeing if they would be able to build off the success they had in a brief post trade deadline period last season.

Now, the Bruins are left to figure out who will fill Krejci’s shoes and anchor the second line—Charlie Coyle likely being the answer there.

Krejci played in 962 career games with the Bruins, totaling 215-515-730. The playoffs always seemed to bring the best out in Krejci where he had 42-92-124 in 156 playoff games, leading the playoffs in points in both 2011 and 2013.

With the signing of Nick Foligno, it seemed as if general manager Don Sweeney and company saw this coming, ensuring they added some much needed depth down the middle.

If anything for the Bruins, this allows top center prospect Jack Studnicka to earn a bigger role with the team and hopefully push him to take that next step forward in his development.

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