BOSTON — Just because the Boston Bruins are bringing back the core of last year’s team doesn’t mean they’re content to stand pat, General Manager Peter Chiarelli said Tuesday after signing Coach Claude Julien to a contract extension.

“We feel that we’ve come a long way to keeping this critical mass together for this team, because I believe it’s a strong team and will continue to be a strong team,” Chiarelli said at a news conference a day after the extension was announced. “One of the core components of this – of this critical mass – is sitting beside me in our coach, Claude Julien.”

In five seasons with Boston, Julien has a 228-132-50 record. The 2009 NHL coach of the year and 2011 Stanley Cup champion is third in franchise history with 410 games coached and fourth in wins, trailing Art Ross, Milt Schmidt and Don Cherry.

Under Julien, the Bruins have never missed the playoffs, going 36-27 in the postseason since he arrived in 2007.

“When I first came here, my goal was to try and win a Stanley Cup here in Boston,” said Julien, who also coached in Montreal and New Jersey. “We’ve accomplished that. Now my goal is to win another Cup for this Boston franchise. I remain hungry. I think I remain committed and dedicated to understanding that the expectations here in Boston are always very high and I love that kind of standard.”

Chiarelli said deals still need to be worked out with the rest of the coaching staff, but he expected to get it done this summer. That would mean next year’s team will look a lot like the roster he has now.

One big change will be in goal. Tim Thomas has decided to sit out a year, leaving Tuukka Rask as the team’s No. 1 goalie.

Of course, there’s a chance there won’t be a season: NHL owners are talking lockout again. The current labor agreement expires in September. The league and the NHLPA are talking today in Toronto.

PREDATORS: Nashville matched the staggering offering sheet made by the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Shea Weber.

The Predators decided to pay him $110 million over 14 years. Weber, 26, is the Predators’ captain and played on a $7.5 million arbitrator’s award last season. He had 19 goals and 49 points along the way.

Nashville already lost free-agent defenseman Ryan Suter to Minnesota this summer.

HURRICANES: Carolina signed defenseman Jay Harrison to a three-year contract extension and signed former first-round draft pick Zach Boychuk to a one-year deal.

LABOR: The NHL Players’ Association is almost ready to offer its own vision for a new collective bargaining agreement.

As negotiations with the NHL resumed, NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr indicated that the union was getting close to responding to the league’s initial proposal, which included a decreased share of hockey-related revenue, term limits on contracts and a 22 percent salary rollback.