Jordan Sundel ‘25
The Boston Bruins’ tumultuous season continues as the team battles for playoff position in a closely contested eastern conference. The drama began on Nov. 19, when head coach Jim Montgomery was dismissed after the team got off to a sluggish 8-9-3 start. The team has managed to stay afloat, going 22-21-6 since then, but results have been mediocre. This led to several moves on March 8 before the NHL trade deadline. The team made a flurry of moves before the 3 p.m. ET deadline, trading away veterans for future assets. The B’s moved center Trent Frederic to Edmonton where he joined a good Oilers team. Next, the team shipped long-time winger Charlie Coyle to Western Conference heavyweight Colorado. Star defenseman Brandon Carlo was also sent to the Maple Leafs. However, none of these trades compare to the Bruins’ biggest move of the day. Just seconds before the deadline, Boston agreed to send their captain and longest-tenured player; Brad Marchand, to the rival Florida Panthers.
Marchand, 36, was enjoying a good season for the B’s, posting 21 goals and 26 assists in 61 games for the squad. But with Marchand set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer and the team on the outside looking in of the playoff picture, general manager Don Sweeney decided to pull the trigger and trade the left winger. Trading Marchand wasn’t the preferred choice of Sweeney and the Bruins, however. They initially offered their captain a three-year extension that would have made Brad Marchand a Bruin for life, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. The two sides were unable to reach a deal, so the Bruins pivoted and made the trade with the Panthers. Marchand is currently dealing with an upper-body injury, but in the coming weeks, we will see the 36-year-old take the ice for the first time in his career not wearing black and gold.
While Boston was expected to be active on deadline day, the departure of their captain sent shockwaves through the league and the Bruins’ locker room. Star right winger David Pastrnak addressed the media on March 9 saying, “I’m not going to lie, when I woke today I almost thought it was a dream.” He goes on to say, “Yesterday there was so much going on, but this morning the reality really hit.” Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman echoed Pastrnak’s sentiment with, “They wanted to see it through here and we had the ability to see it through with those guys, and that’s just the most devastating part. The human side of me was crushed.” In his first press conference as a member of the defending Stanley Cup champions, Marchand himself reflected on the deal that landed him in new threads. “You never know how long you have in this league. You never know when your last day is going to be. You want to make the most of it. It would have been great to be able to stay and play out the rest of my career there…” Marchand said. The former Boston captain went on to explain that despite his sadness leaving Boston he is excited for the opportunity ahead of him in Florida.
Nonetheless with or without Marchand, the Bruins’ season marches on. The team is still vying for a playoff spot in the east, currently sitting at 69 points, 4 points behind the Montreal Canadiens, who currently hold the East’s second wild card and last playoff spot. And Boston will be doing so without an appointed leader for the rest of the season; When addressing the media the day of the trade, Don Sweeney confirmed the club will not name a new captain this year. Despite the shocking and abrupt ending for Marchand in Boston, he has had a hall-of-fame career calling the Garden home. In his 16 NHL seasons, Marchand has compiled quite the resume; scoring 442 goals, adding 554 assists and 1,024 hits. But certainly, the highlight for the organization, the fans, and Marchand himself is the Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup championship, a memory every Bruins fan and Marchand will remember fondly when looking back at his B’s tenure.
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