Boston Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy visits Patriots camp Monday, wants to see Gronk on the ice

AP Photo | Elise Amendola

The New England Patriots had a special visitor at training camp Monday morning.

Boston Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy paid the team a visit in which he claimed he was there both as a fan and to learn a few pointers from head coach Bill Belichick.

“Why not? You’re learning from the best, and I’m a huge football fan,” Cassidy said, “I enjoy watching the players execute, never mind taking away any sort of ideas of how to run practice, how to schedule practice, just being a fan.”

When asked who would be his first-round draft choice for his team, Cassidy didn’t hesitate in his answer.

“Gronk!” he said, as the all-star tight end would qualify as a power forward.

But what if he wasn’t available, then who’s next?

“One of those linemen. They’re big and just have them be on your designated hitter. Or you take a guy like [Julian] Edelman, it would be interesting to see if he could be a goal scorer. It seems like he has the talent to play a lot of different positions. He competes hard in those dirty areas. He might have a little Brad Marchand in him.”

While Cassidy isn’t actually going to get those guys to lace up the skates anytime soon, he surely seemed like he had a fun day at Pats Camp.

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