This would have been a disaster.
The most shocking trade at the 11th hour of the trade deadline last Friday around the NHL was Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand being dealt to the Florida Panthers. It certainly raised some eyebrows in many different ways.
First, he was traded to the Panthers, the team that has sent Boston packing the last two years in the postseason, including the historic collapse in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. You remember that collapse after an NHL record-setting season that saw them break the record for wins and points in a regular season. Then last season, they bullied the Black and Gold in four of the final five games in the second round after losing Game 1 at home.
Tuesday morning, ahead of the Panthers playing the Bruins at the TD Garden, a game that Marchand won’t dress for because of an injury he sustained on March 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Marchand practiced with his new Florida teammates. Earlier Tuesday on the Spittin Chicklets podcast, Paul Bissonette revealed what the rumored contract discussion between Marchand and Bruins was for numbers and if true, GM Don Sweeney appears to have avoided a huge mistake.
Bruins reported contract discussions with Brad Marchand suggest a huge mistake was avoided by the front office
Bissonette reported that the Bruins offered $6.125 million, but the left wing wanted $7.5 million. Both parties sat down for a meeting and couldn’t come together on a number, and then the trade happened.
If any of this is true, then yes, the Bruins avoided cap restraints big time during the retool as that would have been way too much to pay an aging 37-year-old who is seeing a decline in his game. If he was willing to take a Patrice Bergeron discount, then yes, it would have been a deal worth doing. Even going $3-4 million would have been worth doing, but anything over that for three years is not even worth doing. If Don Sweeney did that, could you imagine the backlash they would have got if they caved to that deal? He would have been ripped for a very long time.
Maybe Marchand will come down over the summer in free agency to something that would be worth it for both teams, but if $7.5 million was truly his number, then it was wise of Sweeney and the Bruins to move him along, even for a draft pick. Disaster avoided, for now.
