There is precious little that Patrice Bergeron hasn’t won in his career, including his gold medal, and MVP award, playing with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship in 2005.

The rest of Bergy’s Big Haul includes the Stanley Cup in 2011, another gold medal with Team Canada at the World Championship (2004), two Olympic gold medals (2010, ’14), and another gold with Canada in the 2016 World Cup.

Only the Memorial Cup, junior hockey’s equivalent of the Stanley Cup, eluded the superlative Bruins pivot, something that was prominent in Bergeron’s mind when Acadie-Bathurst, his junior team in the Quebec League, pocketed its first Memorial Cup two weeks ago with a victory over the Regina (Saskatchewan) Pats.

“I’ve always kept an eye on them and how they were doing,’’ Bergeron said the other day, following his morning workout in Brighton. “They’ve had some tough years in the past, but they’ve had a really good team now the past couple of years — so I’ve kept a close eye on them. It brought back a lot of memories, really, seeing them win. Really, really happy for them.’’

Though it may seem a couple of lifetimes ago for him now, at age 32, it wasn’t all that long ago that Bergeron was trying to make his way up the Titan’s lineup. A fifth-round draft pick out of midget, he began the season on Acadie-Bathurst’s fourth line, a 17-year-old paying little mind to what may come of the NHL Draft the following June (2003).

“It was a perfect way for me to learn, work hard, and get better,’’ said Bergeron, crediting his junior coach, Real Paiement, for helping him improve throughout the season. “When you start on the fourth line, then make your way to third, then second . . . you get more ice time and start to play more power play . . . and then people are telling you, ‘Hey, teams are looking at you,’ you start believing a little more. But if you had asked me, say, the first 20 games of the season, about the draft, I probably would have said, ‘Yeah, I don’t think so, I think maybe next year, because right now I’m a rookie and still learning my way.’ ’’

Such will be some of the thoughts, and no doubt anxieties, for many of the 17- and 18-year olds from around the world when the NHL stages its entry draft June 22-23 in Dallas. A total of 217 players will be chosen, none knowing how their careers will track from there.

When the Titan saw Bergeron get selected No. 45 by the Bruins in ’03, they fully expected he would be back in New Brunswick by the end of September, perhaps to anchor a successful Memorial Cup run. They had lost to Halifax in Round 2 that spring.

“I remember our interview with him at the Combine,’’ recalled Scott Bradley, the Bruins’ assistant GM, who headed the club’s draft strategy at the time. “He was shy, and his English wasn’t very good . . . and now, 15 years later, you see what the product is.’’

Bergeron, now a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame, tipped the Titan’s plans upside-down by securing a job with the Boston varsity that September, barely 90 days removed from the draft. The next time he spent substantive time in Bathurst, in September 2011, he was but weeks removed from winning the Stanley Cup and watched proudly as his Titan No. 37 sweater was retired.

“A part of me wanted to find a way to open some eyes,’’ said Bergeron, recalling his rookie camp with Bruins in September 2003. “I say that with no disrespect, because I was humble . . . I wasn’t there thinking I’d make it. But when you go somewhere, you go into training camp, you always go in with that mentality that, ‘I’ll do everything I can to make it.’ ’’

Sitting in the stands at the recent NHL Combine in Buffalo, as players worked diligently through their dry-land testing, Bradley reminded himself that the test scores, while important, are only part of what make up the player. By his estimate, 85 percent of sizing up a player comes from seeing him perform on the ice. Method trumps math.

What stuck out in Bergeron’s game as a kid, recalled Bradley, was his versatility.

“As a staff, we had a lot of discussions on him,’’ he said. “We liked a lot of his game. His versatility . . . and it probably was that the most . . . for a young kid who’d never played junior, they used him at the point on the power play, and penalty killing, it was like, ‘Where’d this player come from?’ He just stepped right out of midget hockey, and there he is.’’

CITY LIFE

McVie recalls days in Seattle

Contrary to reports of the last 4-6 weeks, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said recently that the Board of Governors will not extend a provisional go-ahead to Seattle as an expansion city when the Lords of the Boards meet June 19 around the annual awards ceremony in Vegas.

The prospective ownership group in Seattle, headed by billionaire David Bonderman, still needs time to tidy up all the permits related to an ambitious rehab of 56-year-old KeyArena, one that will preserve the building’s iconic roof.

The monster makeover will be achieved by digging deeper into the basement and/or raising the roof — a two-year project that the would-be owners hope to begin as early as October. The Lords would be more inclined to accept them formally into the club, at a record expansion fee of $650 million, once the construction bona fides are complete.

Longtime pro scout Tom McVie, in Boston last week for a robust round of organizational meetings, has lived much of his life in the Pacific Northwest, most recently in Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland, Ore. McVie, who turned 83 on Wednesday, figures the NHL move to Seattle is a “done deal,’’ noting such favorable factors as a rabid fan base and the city’s relative proximity to the Vancouver Canucks (approximately a three-hour drive) and Portland.

A solid scorer in his lengthy career in minor pro hockey, during the NHL’s Original Six days, McVie played for both the Seattle Americans and then Totems in the old Western Hockey League. He followed with five more seasons with the Portland Buckaroos (1961-66) and later returned for three more seasons with the Totems (1969-72).

“It’s been 62 years now,’’ kidded the ever-lighthearted McVie, considering the span of his hockey career, “and I never had a real job.’’

By the time McVie returned to Seattle for his second tour, the Totems played their home games in KeyArena, the same building where Bonderman and close pal, TV icon Jerry Bruckheimer, hope to open the NHL’s Original 32nd franchise, in October 2020 or 2021.

“The [NBA] Sonics were still playing there,’’ recalled McVie. “As a matter of fact, I think they won the championship while I was playing there. Lenny Wilkins was the player/coach.’’ Wilkins indeed played for the Sonics in those years, but their lone NBA title came in 1979.

The building then was tailored more for basketball, which has a much smaller playing surface and therefore accommodates more seating.

“The clock was way down at one end . . . didn’t hang in the middle like you’d expect for hockey,’’ recalled McVie, laughing at a memory some half a century old. “But it was good . . . a beautiful arena.’’

McVie remembered the old Winnipeg Jets paid $6 million to join the WHA. He coached those Jets to the last WHA Avco Cup in 1978-79, and then was behind their bench in October ’79 when they were swept into the NHL as part of the merger with the rival league.

“And here we are now,’’ he said, “and all the players are making $6 million.’’

McVie was dismissed 28 games into the Jets’ second NHL season, 1980-81, only a few weeks after the Bruins stopped in Winnipeg at the end of a miserable trip that included losses in Minnesota, Calgary, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Vancouver. It was Gerry Cheevers’s first year behind the Boston bench, and an 0-5 trip had scribes on the trip (hand up here) wondering if he would stay on the job long enough to catch the flight home the next day.

“Please, don’t go any further!’’ pleaded McVie, when your faithful puck chronicler began to recount details of the game last week. “That [expletive] Cashman grabbed the puck and threw it in the net . . . it was almost like a rebound in the NBA . . . reached up and threw it right in the net.’’

Wally Harris, the lone referee on duty (standard practice in those days), didn’t see Wayne Cashman catch the puck with his left gloved hand and fire it by goalie Lindsay Middlebrook. Good goal. Tie game, 7-7, with 3:44 left on the clock. The Bruins were soon on the bus out of Winnipeg Arena, delighted to carry home a point at the end of an 0-5-1 trip.

Up in the press box, a fuming Jets GM John Ferguson could barely restrain himself as he and Bruins GM Harry Sinden headed downstairs.

“And casually, Harry says to Fergie, ‘Well, at least [Cashman] didn’t get caught for traveling,’ ’’ recalled McVie. “Then he saw the look on Fergie’s face, and Harry said several times later, ‘If that had been anyone else but me, he would have thrown me right over the side of the [expletive] press box.’ Trust me, he would have . . . because Fergie came down and he was breaking everything he could get his hands on in the dressing room.’’

ETC.

Changes afoot on the Island

Headed into the weekend, the Islanders were in need of hiring a coach after Lou Lamoriello cashiered Doug Weight on Tuesday, part of an expected purge — or needed “culture change,’’ as Lamoriello called it — that included GM Garth Snow getting the gate after 12 years (and eight postseason DNQs) as leader of the Fish Sticks.

Lamoriello, hired two weeks earlier as the czar of hockey operations, also on Tuesday assumed the GM duties, and now, in concert with son Chris Lamoriello (assistant GM on the Island since August 2016), will find the next bench boss.

The long list of suspects immediately offered up by the New York media omitted one obvious name: Providence College’s Nate Leaman, the ex-Union bench boss who is about to enter his eighth season directing the Friars.

Leaman, 45, led Providence to the 2015 NCAA title with a 4-3 win over Boston University, coached then by David Quinn (now doing business as coach of the Rangers). The 75-year-old Lamoriello, in a long-ago life, played for the Friars and then was their head coach for 15 seasons (1968-83).

By the way, Lamoriello must be added to the small list of college coaches to make the leap directly from the NCAA to an NHL bench. He indeed first went the pro route, joining the Devils as president in 1987, but never coached again after 1983 until he took over the Devils’ bench from Larry Robinson for 50 games (and two rounds of playoffs) during the 2005-06 season. He was back behind there for six games the following season, after ditching Claude Julien with two weeks remaining on the schedule.

So the NCAA-to-NHL direct pipeline should include Lamoriello with Ned Harkness, Bob Johnson, Dave Hakstol, Jim Montgomery, Herb Brooks, and Quinn. It just took “Lou Lams’’ some 22 years to make the transition.

If Leaman were to make the leap to the Islanders now, after 20 years of college coaching, it would leave the Capitals’ Barry Trotz as the lone coach in the eight-team Metropolitan Division who did not play NCAA hockey.

Consider: Carolina — Rod Brind’Amour (Michigan State); Columbus — John Tortorella (Maine); New Jersey — John Hynes (BU); NY Rangers — Quinn (BU); Philadelphia — Hakstol (North Dakota); Pittsburgh — Mike Sullivan (BU).

Elsewhere in the NHL, other head coaches to have played NCAA hockey: Dallas — Montgomery (Maine); Detroit — Jeff Blashill (Ferris State); Nashville — Peter Laviolette (Westfield State).

Also, Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper played lacrosse at Hofstra and both Mike Babcock (Toronto) and Guy Boucher (Ottawa) played college hockey at McGill in Montreal.

Leaman, considered by many to be the next NCAA coach to go the NHL, is likely a long shot for the Islanders. Headed into the weekend, the early money was riding on Sheldon Keefe (AHL Toronto), ex-Devil John Madden (AHL Cleveland), and possibly Trotz, who despite his success behind the Capitals’ bench worked this season on an expiring contract.

Loose pucks

The Bruins have yet to tie up any of their varsity free agents, including backup goaltender Anton Khudobin. If he reaches July 1 unsigned, “Doby’’ is free to hook on anywhere. After averaging $1.2 million over the last two years, he likely lands in the range of $1.8 million-$2.3 million per year, based on comps such as Aaron Dell ($1.9m) in San Jose and ex-Bruin Chad Johnson ($2.5m) in Buffalo . . . Johnson, by the way, hits UFA on July 1. He performed well here as Tuukka Rask’s backup (17-4-3) and could be on Boston’s radar if Khudobin finds a bidder willing to pay, say, $10 million over three years. Johnson was 10-16-3 this past season with the moribund Sabres . . . Lack of big numbers aside, Devante Smith-Pelly had a heck of a postseason for the Capitals, particularly with his timely goals against the Golden Knights. After mixed results in Anaheim, Montreal, and New Jersey, he hooked on last summer in D.C. for the league-minimum $650,000. In three weeks, he’ll be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights — possibly with a chance to triple his payout . . . During the upcoming awards ceremony in Vegas, the NHL will dip its big toe into eSports with its first NHL World Gaming Championship June 19, to be staged at an eSports arena at the Luxor Hotel at the south end of the Strip. Six players — two from the US, two from Canada, and two from Europe — will compete for $100,000 in prize money. The two Yanks: John Wayne Casagranda from Anchorage and David Roebuck from Forty Fort, Pa., just outside Wilkes-Barre/Scranton . . . The Kings last week promoted ex-Bruin winger Glen “Muzz’’ Murray to director of player development . . . Patrice Bergeron confirmed that he won’t need surgery for the groin injury that hindered him through stretches of the season. “I’m back in the gym,’’ he said, “so it’s a lot of stretching and strengthening now, rehab stuff, to make sure it gets stronger.’’ . . . In 24 playoff games, Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov logged a line of 12-20—32. Only two Bruins, Rick Middleton and Barry Pederson, ever have reached the 30-point plateau in a postseason, both in 1983: Nifty went 11-22—33 and Pederson 14-18—32, both in 17 games. The Bruins were rubbed out by the Islanders in six games in the Cup semis, and the Isles beat the Oilers for their fourth consecutive title.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.