Patrice Bergeron reached out to Pavel Zacha following trade to Bruins

BOSTON -- Patrice Bergeron's future remains unknown. He isn't currently a member of the Bruins, still mulling if he wants to return for a 19th NHL season.

But he's still acting like the Bruins' captain. After Boston traded for center Pavel Zacha on Wednesday, Bergeron made sure to call up one of the newest Bruin and welcome him to the team.

"It was great," Zacha told reporters on Thursday. "Told me that he's going to meet me at camp and he's excited to talk to me. That's something from a captain and leader -- to hear that coming in is great. I'm just excited to see him in person and talk to him."

That certainly sounds like something a player who intends on playing next season would do, so maybe Bruins fans can stop worrying about whether or not No. 37 will be in the fold for 2022-23.

And on that front, Zacha will have to find some new digits. He's worn the No. 37 during his seven-year NHL career, but will be switching it up now that he's in Boston.

After a quick look at the B's roster, the options are a bit limited. But Zacha said he isn't "big into numbers," so he'll be happy with whatever integer ends up on the back of his sweater.

"The 37 in Jersey was given to me the first day of training camp when I came there," he explained. "I never wore 37 before. I guess I'm not going to have that here. My number is not a big thing for me. We'll see what I end up with."