Boston Bruins: Brad Marchand Contract Should Get Done

Boston Bruins: Brad Marchand Contract Should Get Done and Allow Him To Be a Bruins-Lifer

Brad Marchand led the Boston Bruins in scoring during an ultimately disappointing 2015-16 season. Not only did the Bruins miss the playoffs for the second consecutive year, but they also failed to manage their assets properly and traded away valuable draft picks for rental players (fortunately they were able to lock-up John-Michael Liles, making that failure not quite as large). The biggest mistake on the Bruins end, however, may have been their handling of Loui Eriksson.

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With an expiring contract, and an impasse looking more-and-more likely with each passing day, the Bruins failed to trade away Eriksson at the deadline to acquire any sort of assets in return. While they may have been unwilling to trade Eriksson and lose out on a longer time-frame for negotiations, the end-result left the Bruins wishing they would have acted sooner.

As it stands, Eriksson is set to lace up his skates with the Vancouver Canucks next season, and the Bruins are down a 30-goal scorer. Fast-forward one year, and they could be in the same boat with Marchand who’s contract is set to expire next offseason.

If the Bruins are wise, they will lock up Brad Marchand and his goal-scoring ability for the long term. According to Joe Haggerty of Comcast Sportsnet New England, however, fans in Boston might actually get their wish of a long-term Marchand extension.

"“This is something they want to take care of and there are a couple of really good signs that it will get done. (Marchand) told me back in April he wants to finish his career with the Bruins. He loves it here and the reason he wants a seven or eight-year contract is because he wants to be a Bruin for the rest of his career,” Haggerty said. “Also, the whole thing about him and Bergeron calling David Backes to recruit him in free agency. They both called him multiple times and talked to him to try to come to Boston… The fact that Marchand went out of his way to call and recruit another player like that, that’s a good sign he’s not going anywhere. He wouldn’t be doing that if he had his eyes towards next July 1 and going to the highest bidder.”"

Haggerty went on to say that he believed a deal would get done.

"“I think it’s going to get done. The Bruins will have to pay through the nose to get him, but given that he plays in every situation, given he’s Bergeron’s partner in crime, he’s a leader on the team and still in his 20s, he’s the kind of guy you pay big money for,” concluded Haggerty. “He’s been one of their leading scorers since he came into the league; you have to pay that guy.”"

Is Brad Marchand going to consistently score close to 40-goals each season from here-on-out? That question is left to be determined. What is clear, however, is that Marchand has never failed to record at least 21 goals in full seasons, and he even managed to score 18 goals in 45 games in the lock-out shortened 2012-13 season. Marchand has scored 25, 24, and 37 goals in the last three seasons respectively, and he doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

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Marchand’s durability is also a big kicker in any negotiations he’ll have with the team, as he’s missed no more than six games in any season in his career, most of which occurring due to suspensions, rather than injury. Only time will tell if Marchand will actually sign a long-term extension, but the Bruins would be wise to get it done soon if they don’t want to see his price tag rise even higher.

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