Boston Bruins
“I need to play till I get kicked out of the league.”
In an ideal world, Brad Marchand would nonetheless be in Boston and holding courtroom because the Bruins’ captain this fall.
It’s a state of affairs that the 37-year-old winger mapped out on quite a few events going into his contract 12 months with Boston final 12 months. It was a end result echoed by Don Sweeney, who harassed that he needed to make Marchand a “lifelong Bruin” again in Could 2024.
That actuality splintered in March, with the Bruins buying and selling Marchand to the Florida Panthers amid stalled contract negotiations and Boston’s middling play.
After enjoying an essential role in Florida’s second-straight Stanley Cup title, Marchand opted to stay round with Boston’s rival for what is predicted to be the rest of his Corridor-of-Fame profession — inking a whopping six-year deal with the Panthers worth $5.25 million per year.
Chatting with reporters in Florida Wednesday, the longtime Bruins ahead mentioned that the time period he was searching for on a brand new deal was the first cause why contract talks with Boston by no means reached the end line.
“I used to be by no means going to take a one or two-year deal. Not even a three-year deal. That simply wasn’t within the playing cards,” Marchand instructed reporters. “I need to play so long as I can. That’s the principle cause why it didn’t work out in Boston. I need to play till I get kicked out of the league.”
In accordance with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, the Bruins made a three-year contract offer to Marchand and his representatives earlier than in the end dealing him to a staff that he most well-liked on the East Coast within the Panthers.
Even with Marchand’s sturdy play on a deep Panthers roster, a Bruins staff gazing an inevitable retool/rebuild probably wasn’t going at hand out a contract that may preserve Marchand signed till he was 43 years outdated — even when that $5.25 million cap hit ought to be extra digestible because the NHL’s wage cap ceiling continues to soar.
Marchand admitted that he was initially shocked that he stayed with the Panthers, contemplating that Florida was seemingly primed to lose key items in free company amid an anticipated cap crunch.
However, the Panthers managed to maintain all of its high pending free brokers in place this offseason — signing Marchand, Sam Bennett (eight years, $64 million), and Aaron Ekblad (eight years, $48.8 million) to long-term offers.
A candid Marchand did notice that Florida’s lack of state earnings tax additionally made it simpler to take a reduction deal — one thing that has allowed the Panthers to construct a juggernaut roster and set up themselves as a viable contender for a Stanley Cup three-peat in June 2026.
“If we weren’t in a no-tax state, it wouldn’t work out, in all probability for 2 guys. Two guys in all probability could be leaving in that scenario,” Marchand mentioned. “That’s a profit that this staff has that we capable of make the most of and make work. I’m thrilled to be right here for the subsequent six years.”
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