Brad Marchand and the Boston Bruins will come to terms before his contract expires.
It’s going to happen so everyone needs to stop worrying. I’m so confident that Brad Marchand will sign long-term with the Black and Gold, I don’t plan on broaching this subject again.
Marchand wants to spend the rest of his career in Boston. The Bruins want him to spend the rest of his career in Boston. While Marchand isn’t on the ‘rafter track’ that Patrice Bergeron is, Boston’s Little Ball of Hate could one day see his 63 retired in the TD Garden.
Besides, how many players who are on the verge of free agency would call David Backes and sell him on the potential of being a member of the Boston Bruins?
CSNNE’s Bruins Insider Joe Haggerty was on local radio today to state how obvious Marchand’s staying in Boston is. I know Haggerty rubs some Bruins fans the wrong way. They don’t like his work and/or they don’t think he knows what he’s talking about. Do Haggerty and I always agree? No, but he’s spot on here.
“Going back to when they started talking contract with him, and when the season ended, they fully expected that the contract would be 7-8 years and at least $6.5 million a year, probably more like $7 million a year,” said Haggerty on 98.5 The Sports Hub. “He’s too valuable to this team to let get away and let him get into free agency. What if he has another huge year like last year and his price goes up even more, and he has the hammer even more on his side leading up to unrestricted free agency.
“This is something they want to take care of and there are a couple of really good signs that it will get done. 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,” offered Haggerty (who was the first of the big Boston media to treat me as a peer and not a fanboy). “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.
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“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,” said Haggerty as he was summing up his argument. “He’s been one of their leading scorers since he came into the league; you have to pay that guy.”
I’ve been saying this for months. Haggerty has been saying it for months. Most of Boston’s media are on the same page with us. So, unless something utterly bizarre happens between now and the end of the upcoming season, let us take a bit of a risk and just assume that the Nose Faced Killah will be wearing the ‘spoked-B’ for the foreseeable future.