The Boston Bruins need to keep Brad Marchand in the Black and Gold.
Last season was Marchand’s best season in the NHL. The 28-year old forward earned a career best 37 goals. His partnership with Patrice Bergeron has developed into one of the best duos in the NHL. While other players have tried to tap into the magic of the Bergeron-Marchand pair, no one has been able to totally link into their hive-mind.
The Bruins know how important Marchand is to the Bruins. He’s become one of their most versatile players. He’s the best short-handed scorer currently on the roster. His game has matured to the point where he can be considered to be an elite NHL forward.
The Bruins are certainly going to try to be accommodating. At development camp, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney shared with the media that the Bruins organization had began negotiations with Marchand’s agent. Marchand is now on the last year of his current contract, a deal that pays him an average of $4.5 million annually.
“I think I’ve been pretty up front that I’d like to be aggressive in trying to identify from what we have, I’ve identified March as a core guy and we want to continue down that path,” said the Bruins GM about Marchand. “It always takes two sides to make a deal, and I would envision that he’d like to be part of this organization for what could be arguably his whole career, but Brad has a say in this as well.
Brad Marchand has certainly has had his say already. He made it clear back in April that he would like to spend the rest of his career in a Bruins uniform. He’s been repeating it over and over since the start of last season.
“When someone has played in one place as long as I have — and I know there’s guys that have been here longer than I have — it would be a dream come true to play here my whole career,” said Marchand last November. “I understand the game and the business of things, but I think as long as I continue to work hard and hold up my end of the bargain, hopefully I can be here for a while. It is something that crosses my mind. I know that I have a year and a half left on my deal, but it is something I think about and I would obviously love to be here for a long time.
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“When you go somewhere else, you’ve got to kind of earn your stripes, but that’s not really the reason I want to be here, just because I’ve earned my stripes. I love this organization, I love the town, I love the fans here and I love the guys on the team and in the room. It’s become my home.”
We’ll see,” offered Marchand more recently. “That’s a little ways away right now, but if the time comes and that comes up then we’ll deal with it then. But that’s not what we’re thinking about right now, it’s more about the disappointment right now. I obviously love being a part of this organization, this city and this team, and I don’t think this team is done having some good runs.
“I would love to be a part of this organization for the rest of my career, but the reality is when you look around the league that it doesn’t happen for many guys. We’ll deal with it when the time comes, I don’t think anybody is going to push it right now.”
Brad Marchand is certainly going to be able to deal from a position of strength at the negotiations. He’s the best winger on the team. The current rumor has the Marchand camp pushing for a seven-year, $49 million deal.
Is Brad Marchand a seven million dollar a year player? Right now, he is. Does the strength of his game warrant such a long-term contract? Again, it does.
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The Bruins will find a way to sign Marchand. They have to. A failure to keep Marchand in Boston would be a defining failure in the career of Don Sweeney.