There is a growing question on social media of whether Boston Bruins fans will cheer or boo Brad Marchand when he returns to TD Garden on October 21 to play his old team for the first time. Bruins fans last saw Marchand on February 27 in a 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders, as Boston went on the road for their next game, and Marchand exited with an injury.
The rest is history for the team and their former captain, as they traded him to the Florida Panthers at the deadline and he then went on to win his second Stanley Cup. The Panthers and Marchand also agreed to a contract extension before free agency opened, putting him in a Florida uniform for the rest of his career.
For a brief moment, it looked like Marchand was going to return to Boston in free agency. The Panthers signed Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad, and the growing belief was that they'd only be able to afford two of their three elite pending unrestricted free agents. It sparked rumors of Marchand returning to Boston or possibly signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs or Utah Mammoth.
Both parties quickly dispelled those rumors as a deal was reached before July 1. It left people wondering how the Panthers keep getting away with it, but it also had Bruins fans looking ahead to six years of playing against their former beloved captain.
The question now is whether notoriously brutal Boston sports fans will give Marchand the ovation he deserves when he returns, or whether they will take out their frustrations on him. As we've learned over the years, it might not be wise to make Marchand the villain, and there is no valid reason to make him one anyway.
Don't blame the wrong person for Brad Marchand trade
I'm hopeful that Bruins fans in attendance at TD Garden will be wise enough to not take out their frustrations. Marchand was staring in the face of a potential rebuild with how the season was going, and he wanted to win a championship before he finished his career. Don Sweeney did him a favor by trading him to a division rival to live out that dream.
If anyone should get the blame, it's the front office for not surrounding Marchand with a legitimite contender. If he believed the team was good enough to help him win the cup, Marchand would've stayed. However, they failed to build a Stanley Cup-winning team, and also nickel and dimed Marchand at the negotiation table.
I place no blame on Marchand for looking at the situation and wondering how he wasn't getting paid on a team that barely had two competitive lines. I also have no ill will about him taking a slight paycut to stay with the Panthers, who actually have their organization set up to win a third-consecutive title.
When Marchand comes to town for the one time in 2025-26, give him the respect he deserves. It'd be a rough end to 14 great years if fans at TD Garden took their anger out on the wrong person.