We are just over three weeks away from the NHL trade deadline and when it comes to the Boston Bruins, there are a lot more questions than answers. Are they going to be buyers, sellers, or stand-pat? The latter is very unlikely and so is the first. All signs are pointing to some sort of sell, whether it be big or small.
A retool is what the front office needs to do and the sooner that GM Don Sweeney accepts it along with President Cam Neely, the better off everyone will be. Heck, even fans have realized and been asking for it. It's needed and it's been needed for some time.
One player who is the biggest question mark for the Black and Gold when it comes to the trade deadline is captain Brad Marchand. Does the front office move on from a franchise great or do they keep him and let him finish his career wearing the Spoked-B? That's the question.
There are a number of teams that would love to add Marchand to their roster for the stretch run and playoffs. He is not the player he once was, but he is a postseason veteran who would bring a lot to any locker room he's in. According to Jimmy Murphy of RG, Sweeney is getting calls on his captain and a potential trade.
Bruins reportedly fielding calls on Brad Marchand
Would the Bruins actually trade their captain? I'll believe it when I see it for the record, but then again, anything is possible.
"They’re getting calls on [Marchand], and teams are wondering what they’re going to do here, but, at this point, I think they’re just listening,” an NHL executive source told RG. “Still, the fact that the Bruins or Marchand haven’t come right out and squashed this like they have in the past is telling. With things also being so quiet on contract talks, it tells you this is getting real.”
It might be getting real, but the question is, how real? There is no chance that the Bruins pull off a trade during the 4 Nations Face-Off as they will likely see how the first handful of games after the break go to determine their path. In that decision who stays, and who goes?
Later on in the story, the NHL executive said that "the fact that the Bruins or Marchand haven’t come right out and squashed this like they have in the past is telling. With things also being so quiet on contract talks, it tells you this is getting real.”
There is a lot of truth to that, however, Marchand has never been on to discuss his contract situation in the media and neither has Sweeney, ever discussed contract negotiations in the media. Remember Jermey Swayman last summer? Not a peep from Sweeney or the Bruins.
What happens, happens when it comes to Marchand and his future in Boston and it will be settled by March 7, but where there is smoke, there is generally fire. Time will tell.