Saturday night, the Boston Bruins faced an early-season must-win game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ok, so maybe that might have been an overreaction, but maybe not by much if we're being honest after the first seven games of the 2024-25 season.
Captain Brad Marchand entered the game without a goal this season, but that all changed in overtime. After Auston Matthews tied the game with 1:17 left in regulation, the Black and Gold responded to adversity the right way for the first time this season and battled through the first 2:26 of overtime before Marchand knocked home the game-winning goal in a 4-3 win.
As if Marchand needed to make any more headlines at the TD Garden after the game, he did. During the game, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that Marchand and the Bruins were closing in on a potential three-year contract extension. After the game, the Boston forward addressed the report and fired back at the NHL insider.
Brad Marchand fires back at Elliotte Friedman
Marchand, who is coming off of two off-season surgeries over the summer, was asked about the report and denied it saying it was false. It was not the first time that Friedman reported on Marchand during the last week after he addressed the Marchand/Jim Montgomery spat on the bench against the Utah Hockey Club on Oct. 19 on his 32 Thoughts podcast last week.
“Elliott likes talking about me this week,” Marchand said. “I mentioned this before, I’m not big about talking about contract stuff in the media. I’m not going to do it. But that report from Elliott is false. I am not going to talk about my contract stuff with the media. If I was to sign a three-year extension, it would be signed. Elliott is just wrong there.”
One big takeaway from Marchand's quote is that he is correct, he has never and never will discuss his contract stuff with the media. He never has and never will. It happened this past summer with Jeremy Swayman and the team and we all know how ugly that got before a deal was done.
Is Marchand still at the top of his game? That can be up for debate, but he remains the heart and soul of the Black and Gold. There is no doubt that he wants to continue his career beyond this season and you get the feeling it's only a matter of time before a deal is announced.