If the Gretzky-Messier Oilers did not establish the modern-day blueprint for Stanley Cup contention — hard to copycat all-time greats — then the blueprint surely got its watermark from the Western Conference champions of the 1990s.

Even the 1988-89 Calgary Flames and the ’91 and ’92 Pittsburgh Penguins made their respective mojos function on the shoulders of a formidable 1-2 punch at center ice. Calgary did so with Doug Gilmour and Joe Niewendyk, and the Penguins with Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis.

Three transitional seasons followed in which the Cup champs brought many other championship qualities to the playoffs but not this one (ie. Montreal had Stephane Lebeau centering in the top six, while Messier was surrounded in NY by a whole bunch of ex-Oilers and character players. New Jersey got it done with an alternative model so impressive in its own right that the Devils won the Cup three and almost four times). No, there are no guarantees in life or in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but general manager Peter Chiarelli smartly built the front end of his team around Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, two Mike O’Connell centermen who would develop under Chiarelli’s watch into one of the NHL’s elite 1-2 punches.

The Aaron Ward-confirmed reports of Krejci’s contract extension — six years at $7.25M per (highest salary on the Bruins beginning in 2015-16) is on one hand a just reward for the two-way, point-per-game-ish playmaker who led the NHL in playoff scoring two of the past four seasons, and on the other hand an act of reason: not only Chiarelli’s faith that economics will bring the salary cap back up to a point where this deal will seem like “a deal,” but also that the Bruins are still the envy of the conference if not the league.

The Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs wish they had one center like Krejci or Bergeron. Ironically, it was the Anaheim Ducks who have Ryan Getzlaf and augmented him with Ryan Kesler and the St. Louis Blues who have David Backes and augmented him with Paul Stastny. Even the Dallas Stars brought in Jason Spezza. Meantime, these Eastern Conference teams that fancy themselves should-be-in-it failed to strengthen their spinal cords.

As stated, perfect formulas do not guarantee perfect health (Bergeron in 2013, Dennis Seidenberg in 2014) or perfect performances (Tyler Seguin in ’13, Brad Marchand in ’14). The only guarantees are that, without the right structure, a team cannot win. Fatal flaws are easy to find and can undermine key areas of strength. If I were an NHL team in for a bitter disappointment, I’d much rather be the Bruins and lose in the second round because I lost my No. 3 defenseman the same season that I had replaced my No. 4 than to be the Rangers and lose in the finals because I don’t have one centerman as good as three of my opponent’s four.

The Boston Bruins have done the right thing here. David Krejci is a world-class talent. No one wins it every year, no one in this day and age at least even has a solid postseason every year. But the Bruins have recognized their alignment with the ’90s Red Wings (Yzerman-Federov), Avalanche (Sakic-Forsberg) and Stars (Modano-Niewendyk) and, by staying this course, are like the investor who lives by the adage of “time in the market” rather than the more-alluring “timing the market.” As many years as the Bruins can maintain this tried-and-true strength down the middle, be it in the back end with Tuukka Rask and Zdeno Chara or up front with Krejci and Bergeron as C1 and C2 of their spinal cord, they will always be in a position to tweak their way into Cup contention.

There is plenty of work for Chiarelli to do with this team for a next chance thanks to the constraints of the salary cap and the fact his once-balanced team is down to two right-handed shots on the forward lines: Bergeron and Krejci. The 2014-15 season will be a work in progress and may even resemble the 2009-10 season while things are getting figured out. Forget the Presidents Trophy, forget aggregate offense lost with Jarome Iginla’s departure in free agency, and forget the Canadiens and the ridiculous claims made by ex-Canuck Dale Weise in the wake of that fateful series.

None of that matters to the Boston Bruins, whose mission it is to think bigger and broader, as in confidence in their structure, appropriate fixes for what ailed them in the spring (ie. Seidenberg’s comeback is a solid start), some patient, in-season fact-finding about players young and old, and a key move or two to be back where they should be, which is knocking on if not down the door.

Krejci’s extension is the best message the Bruins could send their fans.