Bruins
"I hope he respects our position, because he's beloved here. I would never close the door.”
There was a wide space and no chatting betwenn Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) (left) and Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) on the bench in the 3rd period.
Brad Marchand's tenure with the Bruins has come to a close. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff(sports)
Don Sweeney and the Bruins’ top brass were busy this week uprooting most of their roster — dealing away lineup regulars in Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau and others in the days leading up to the NHL trade deadline.
But the most seismic move was the decision to trade captain Brad Marchand to one of the team’s top rivals in the Florida Panthers. It signals the end of an era for the Bruins, who shipped out the final remaining player from their 2011 Cup roster.
“That one goes back a long ways for me and cuts deeper than, really, any player that I’ve had the privilege of getting to know and watch thrive and become a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest Bruins ever,” Don Sweeney said. “So a difficult day from that standpoint, personally. Professionally, it’s making some very difficult decisions, and I want to wish each and every one of them well — they’re going to go to teams that we’re jealous of.”
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When asked of the reasoning that led to Marchand’s exit after 16 years with the organization, Sweeney pointed to the ongoing contract talks with the captain that stagnated ahead of Friday’s deadline.
“Just had a gap,” Marchand said of negotiations with Marchand. “Deep down, we had been talking — from day two, I think, of free agency in terms of what his intentions were and where we were at. And we always had a bit of a term gap that took us a while, and felt that we had been able to bridge that.
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“But again, a player is more than entitled to have an understanding of what they think their market value is and and do what’s best for them. And I have to always respect that. There’s never an ounce of me that won’t respect what that player thinks is best for him and his family. And that’s the decision that was made. And we had to make a really, really difficult decision to say, well, let’s give Brad another opportunity with a really good team.”
While Marchand’s departure stands as part of a larger sell-off from the Bruins, the return has rankled some who question if Boston received a proper return for their captain.
Whereas Boston recouped several top draft picks and younger players in deals involving the likes of Carlo, Coyle, and others, all Boston received from Florida was a conditional second round pick.
The conditional second-round draft pick will become a 2027 or 2028 first-round draft pick if Florida wins two rounds of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs and Marchand appears in at least 50% of the team’s playoff games.
It’s a stark departure from the top returns that other teams had secured for their captains in trades — with the Flyers getting a top young player in Owen Tippett, a first-round pick, and a third-round pick three years ago when they dealt 34-year-old Claude Giroux.
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Sweeney took note of both Marchand’s injury and the “trade restrictions” in place with Marchand — adding that he worked with the forward and his representatives to find a spot in the Eastern Conference for him.
“With his injury, it complicates things a little bit,” Sweeney said of Marchand, who is expected to be out another three or four weeks with an upper-body ailment. “So you’re just basically talking to the teams that are willing to take on that risk in the position they’re in and comfortable that he’s going to miss some time. … Ultimately, the gap was there that he wasn’t going to sign.
“Now, whether or not we could have taken the time in between now and then, and maybe it changes. But the time leading up to it hadn’t. And that’s where the tipping point is and says I have to do what’s right for the organization.”
Even though Marchand will now look to chase a Cup with the Panthers in Florida, could the door still remain open for the longtime Bruin to return to Boston this offseason as a free agent?
“I mean, that’s probably a better question for Brad at this point in time, the emotions that he’s going through,” Sweeney added. “I love Brad. I’ve said all along. We’ve been trying to sign Brad all year long. We just — we had a gap there, and I respect where he believes his market value is. I hope he respects our position, because he’s beloved here. I would never close the door.”
Profile image for Conor Ryan
Conor Ryan
Sports Writer
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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