Nick Foligno found himself in a rather intriguing scenario this off-season. His brother, Marcus, courted him to head to Minnesota. Patrice Bergeron pitched him to come to Boston.
In the end, Bergeron’s recruiting prowess won out. Foligno signed a two-year, $7.6 million deal with the Bruins on the first day of free agency.
Foligno spent his first two days of training camp adjusting to a tight-knit Boston locker room. Meanwhile, his brother took a playful jab with the media in Minnesota surrounding the recruiting dynamic with Bergeron.
Foligno didn’t hear about the jab surrounding Bergeron’s recruiting pitch until he met with the media following the first of two training camp sessions at Warrior Ice Arena on Friday. The elder Foligno didn’t hold anything back in his response.
“Well, Bergy has a few more accolades up on the wall,” Foligno said to a round of chuckles among the Boston media in attendance. “One day, he’ll get there. But poor kid. What a jerk for saying that.”
How could Foligno say no to Bergeron? After all, Bergeron’s illustrious career includes four Selke Trophies, three gold medals with Team Canada in international competition (two at the Olympics and one at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey), and a Stanley Cup ring.
It’s no slight on Foligno’s brother. Only a small handful of players in the league have matched or surpassed Bergeron’s accolades.
But Marcus played a pivotal role during a transitional phase for the Wild. With a plethora of talent highlighted by Calder Trophy winner Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Dumba and Joel Eriksson-Ek — to name a few — the Wild appear on the cusp of a breakthrough season following a close first-round loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in seven games a year ago.
The Foligno sibling matchups will take center stage in a pair of Bruins-Wild contests this season. The Bruins host the Wild on Jan. 6 and will head to the Twin Cities on Mar. 16.
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