Should the Bruins extend Brad Marchand soon?
The Boston Bruins just ended their standoff with goalie Jeremy Swayman, but there is another contract situation on the horizon with captain Brad Marchand's contract expiring after this season, but president Cam Neely does not seem too intent on addressing that as soon as possible.
“Coming off a lengthy Jeremy Swayman contract standoff, it appears the Bruins are in no rush to address their captain's soon-to-be expiring contract,” Nick Kypreos of the Toronto Star wrote. “Brad Marchand, at age 36, is finishing a team-friendly deal worth $6.1 million per season. I'm wondering if president Cam Neely has 25 or 30 million reasons for Marchand to want to stick around.”
Marchand is a Bruins legend, and it seems like at this point in his career that he would either keep playing with Boston or retire. Seeing him play for another franchise would be shocking. However, it happens with legends. Steven Stamkos was just let go by the Tampa Bay Lightning, even though no one could envision him with another team. He is now with the Nashville Predators.
It could be similar to the situation with players like Patrice Bergeron, who always had the option to come back to the Bruins, but eventually decided to retire. It will be interesting to monitor this situation throughout the season.
Bruins look to take off after rough loss to Utah Hockey Club
The Bruins are hoping to continue their run of being a consistent contender. In many recent years, fans have predicted the decline of the Bruins, but it seemingly never happens. They have not won a Stanley Cup since 2011, but the team has gone on plenty of deep playoff runs and reached the Final multiple times since then.
Boston is 3-2-1 to start this season, so not setting the world on fire, but in a place to still take off in the near future. The three wins came against the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings in overtime, and Colorado Avalanche. The two regulation losses for the Bruins came against the Florida Panthers, who look just as good as they were a season ago. The overtime loss came on the road against the Utah Hockey Club.
The Bruins' next game is on Tuesday against the Predators and Stamkos, who are off to a bad start at 0-5-0. It will be interesting to see how Boston performs. Despite being 0-5-0, the Predators are still a talented team that should improve over the season, so it is a good test for the Bruins.
