Bruins fans went wild after David Pastrnak and Nikita Zadorov followed Kirill Marchenko

Sometimes social media is a terrible place full of bots and haters, and other times it creates moments that only happen in this era. In the pre-social media era, fans learned about trades the next morning in the daily newspaper; now we can predict trades based on who players follow on social media. While Elliotte Friedman's revelation about Kirill Marchenko and the Boston Bruins made waves, it was nothing compared to what happened Friday night.

An infamous X account has recently been tracking who hockey players follow and unfollow on Instagram. While the invasion of a player's privacy isn't something I totally agree with, especially when the Instagram activity can affect their personal life, the account was able to give fans hope on Friday when David Pastrnak followed Marchenko shortly after the Friedman rumor.

The Bruins' corner of the internet went wild about the possibility of acquiring Marchenko, concocting trade packages and reasons why Pastrnak would be following the disgruntled Columbus Blue Jackets star. The consensus was that Matthew Poitras, Mason Lohrei, and a couple of draft picks would be enough, and Pastrnak could connect with him on social media as the expected captain to do some courting.

The question is what would stop anyone from acquiring Marchenko, and a lack of long-term stability is likely the problem. The Russian winger becomes a free agent after this season, and any trade for a significant number of assets would need to include a contract extension. It could explain why Pastrnak would need to talk to Marchenko to convince him to come.

Kirill Marchenko, Nikita Zadorov added more fuel to the fire

Speaking of leaders of the team, and Russians for that matter, Nikita Zadorov was the next Bruins player to have his Instagram following leaked on social media. Overnight, the defenseman followed Marchenko as well, which confirms at least some interest from Boston's side.

All that was left was for the account to leak Marchenko's recent followings, and sure enough, Pastrnak and Zadorov were two of the accounts. Unfortunately, another recent follow was Toronto Maple Leafs signing Nick Blankenburg, but as of this writing, no Leafs have slid into Marchenko's DMs, according to the tracker.

All of this could mean nothing, but the hype surrounding it can only happen in this era of social media. If Marchenko does end up donning the black and gold, it's funny to think it might've all started with Pastrnak sitting on his couch, scrolling through Instagram. Ironically, it isn't that much different from any modern-day love story.

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