Even A Face To Face Meeting With The Bruins Organization Couldn't Keep Brad Marchand In Boston

"The Bruins and the player had agreed on term. 3 years... As Don Sweeney said yesterday there was a gap, and there was a gap on AAV, and I don't think he was being asked to take a pay cut or anything like that, but I do think it was a sizable gap that they obviously could not bridge. Where I think this really went sideways, there was a point this week where Brad Marchand who is currently injured and not in the lineup, asked for a face to face meeting with Bruins management... I don't know exactly when it was, I don't know exactly who was there, but it did happen and in that meeting, Brad Marchand asked for a compromise. He said I will compromise, I will bend on some of my asks, I'm asking the Bruins to bend on some of their stance and we'll find a way to get this deal done, because he wanted to stay as a Bruin. And it just didn't happen. The Bruins had gone as far as they were willing to go..."

Despite making it abundantly clear he wanted to stay, the Bruins drew a line in the sand during negotiations and Brad Marchand was shipped off to Florida for a conditional 2nd round pick (becomes a 1st if Marchand plays in 50% of the first 2 rounds for the Panthers). The NHL is a business, but man, a legacy player, who has given 16 years to your organization, not being able to get a deal, it's brutal.  Yes, we can talk all about how he's on the back nine of his career, is currently injured, and you don't really want to handcuff yourself to an aging player for up to three years, but man, he took team friendly deal after team friendly deal. The Bruins owed Marchand more than Marchand owed the Bruins. Trading your Captain, to a division rival, who has beaten your ass and embarrassed you for two straight years, was never going to sit well with the fanbase. But my god, does it hurt me to my core that Marchand will not retire a Bruin. It was weird seeing Zdeno Chara play for the Capitals and the Islanders, but it's going to hurt significantly more to see him go on a Cup run with the Panthers. The fucking Florida Panthers. 

And for the people who are like 'Oh Marina! Stop being so emotional! He was an aging player on the decline!' Well the whole reason you're trading the player after failing to come to an agreement on a contract is to get the most assets possible for the player, facilitating a deal to where he wants to go defeats that purpose... you should've just re-signed him to begin with. Especially since the return was being hindered anyways due to his injury. So he's either still a top player in this league who just played for Team Canada and won the 4 Nations Face-Off who you'll get the most assets for, or he's a declining super star and you should get a haul for him while you can... well which is it?

"Marchand's agent... made it very clear that Marchand had a place where he wanted to go, and obviously that was Florida."

Elliotte Friedman reported there was no pay cut for Marchand in the Bruins' offers, but Buccigross has come out and said one of the offers was around 3M for 2 years. That's a slap in the face. While we may never know what the true numbers were, it's a PR disaster for Boston.

"I think it really hurt Marchand that a face to face meeting couldn't get the deal done…" 

So, the Marchand era is officially over. Well, I guess I'd give it a 2% chance he comes back. But if they couldn't find common ground on a deal this entire year, I doubt it'll happen come July 1. The NHL can be a cruel business at times and it doesn't matter if you've given your all for 16 years to a team, if they think you aren't worth the money, then that's that. Again, anything North of 7 I wouldn't have touched, even with the cap going up for 3 years, but for a player that has given his heart and soul to the team, how do you say no? Apparently, for Sweeney and Neely it's not very hard. Emotionally, I find it hard for Marchand wanting to re-sign in Boston, and I think he'll make significantly more on the open market unless he has a rather miserable playoff run. 

Marchand got choked up at his introductory press conference this morning talking about 16 great years in Boston but shined a light on how disappointed he was that things didn't get done. He probably isn't burying Sweeney right now because Sweeney did right by him in allowing him the opportunity to come to Florida. But at the end of the day, Marchand should've retired a Bruin and it just puts such a bad taste in my mouth with how the B's brass continues to operate with these legacy players when they are at the end of their career. Not even legacy, but some of the fan favorites, like how they let DeBrusk walk for nothing last year. Torey Krug never even received an offer before he signed in St. Louis… I would just feel so much more comfortable if a new GM came in and said, you know what, he's about to be 37, we could use the assets we would acquire and then regroup. Somehow, someway, Sweeney and Neely get 9 lives when it comes to this organization and Charlie Jacobs immediately had to come out with a statement of support after the trade, gross.

What's even funnier is despite the Marchand trade, I think Sweeney did a nice job at the deadline. Trading 2 players (Marchand, Carlo) within the division is again, disgusting, but the team needed to make changes and he did really well with the Coyle and Carlo trades. Hell, he even turned Brazeau who was an ECHL/AHL player less than 2 years ago into 2 roster players. I probably wouldn't be burying him had he kept 63. But I've said it once and I'll say it again, there is nothing this organization needs more than a fresh set of eyes.

Yes, Sweeney built this team, but he shouldn't get to be the one who gets to put the pieces back together.