The Boston Bruins and captain Brad Marchand could not work out an extension before the NHL trade deadline, which led to the team sending the veteran left wing to the Florida Panthers just ahead of Friday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline.
It was a pretty surprising trade—not so much because it happened, but because Marchand went to one of the Bruins’ biggest rivals and the return (a conditional 2027 second-round pick) was so lackluster.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said at a press conference Friday that there was a “gap” the two sides couldn’t bridge. According to reports, the gap wasn’t related to term but to annual average value (AAV).
Marchand made it clear for many weeks when asked about his future that he wanted to remain in Boston for his whole career.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported over the weekend that Marchand was willing to bend on his contract demands and asked for a face-to-face meeting with team management.
“I think the Bruins and the player had agreed on a term—three years,” Friedman said on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. “But as Don Sweeney said (Friday), there was a gap, and there was a gap on AAV. I don’t think he was being asked to take a pay cut or anything like that, but I do think it was a sizable gap that they obviously could not bridge.
“Where I think things really went sideways was there was a point this week where Brad Marchand, who is currently injured and not in the lineup, asked for a face-to-face meeting with Bruins management. I don’t know exactly when it was; I don’t know exactly who was there, but it did happen, and in that meeting, Brad Marchand asked for a compromise. He said, ‘I will compromise; I will bend on some of my ask; I’m asking the Bruins to bend on some of their stance, and we’ll find a way to get this deal done,’ because he wanted to stay as a Bruin.
“It just didn’t happen. The Bruins had gone as far as they were willing to go. Everybody in the hockey world who has watched Marchand play, we know he’s going to the Hall of Fame for one major reason—he’s got an incredible amount of pride and he puts everything on the line.”
Friedman also added, “I think it really hurt Marchand that the face-to-face meeting couldn’t get a deal done.”
Marchand is a Bruins franchise legend and will likely be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame at some point. He’s also a tremendous leader and still a really productive player capable of scoring 25-30 goals in a full season. And given the Bruins’ enormous struggles scoring this season — both at 5-on-5 and the power play — losing Marchand’s consistent two-way skill set is a huge blow. Finding 25-goal scorers isn’t easy and it’s expensive.
For these reasons and others, the Bruins should have made much more of an effort to keep Marchand.
It’s not like the Bruins are lacking salary cap space, either. PuckPedia projects the B’s will have around $28 million this summer, and they don’t have any expensive star players to re-sign in July. They could have given Marchand a reasonable salary and still had plenty of cap space to make impactful roster upgrades.
It’s still possible that Marchand could return to the Bruins as a free agent in the offseason. But based on Friedman’s reporting, it sounds like there’s still a gap they’ll have to overcome if that’s going to happen.
