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Maybe all of this would be a fitting end to
Brad Marchand’s career as a Boston Bruin.
The last time we saw No. 63, he took two undeniably reputation-based penalties -- one for interfering with
Carey Price (though pushed into Price by
Andrei Markov) and the other for snow-showering Price early in the second period -- and finished with just two shots in a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Finishing the postseason with zero goals in 12 contests, the 26-year-old now just has two goals in his last 25 postseason contests. And at times, it seems as if Marchand’s ‘antics’ as an agitator have overshadowed his overall game.
“Every year I seem to have this comment about him finding a balance between irritant slash agitator and a real good player. I think sometimes his antics get in the way. This has been a discussion I’ve had, we’ve had, Claude’s [Julien] has had over the course of three, four, five years and it’s a challenge for Brad [Marchand] to play that aggressive way and not to cross the line,” B’s general manager
Peter Chiarelli said at his end of the year conference with the media. “And you’ve heard this from me a lot and if those were reputation calls, I’d be disappointed but sometimes that’s the reality. So we both had productive meetings with Brad and he scored 25 goals and he thought he had a bad year. That’s where he puts his expectations and we talked about that other stuff and we had productive conversation. I don’t know what it is but we have to dial back some of that stuff.”
Factoring this into an offseason with more questions than answers for a cash-strapped Bruins squad, it’s no wonder that Marchand’s name has come up in early
summertime trade rumors.
I remember talking with a scout that once said that players like Marchand don’t last too long in one city because of their style. Now, it’s not that they’re bad players per se. It’s just that eventually their schtick as a troublemaker or ‘pest’ gets old for their coaches and sometimes even their teammates.
But should the Bruins
really consider moving Marchand out of town? Honestly, no.
The general sort of case against Marchand is that he doesn’t fit coach
Claude Julien’s disciplined system. And given Boston’s emphasis on a 5-on-5 game, any penalty against goes against their preference (as if there’s a team out there that
wants to take penalties). But throughout his tenure in Boston, I think Marchand’s proven that theory to be absolute bogus. While you can obviously look to Marchand’s team-leading nine penalties against in the postseason as a clear detriment to Boston’s hopes for a second Stanley Cup in four years, it’s what Marchand’s brought to the table when on the ice that’s made him a valuable commodity for the Bruins’ second line.
For one, I don’t think that’s a forward that can turn on the jets quite like the 5-foot-9 Marchand.
His speed is only rivaled by prospect
Ryan Spooner, with maybe
Danny Paille in the discussion as well. In a rather sluggish top six in terms of speed, Marchand’s the wild card. When you consider just where the B’s fell short in their series loss to the Habs -- particularly in their skating game -- ditching one of the few quick forwards you have on your roster seems rather silly.
It’s that same speed that’s also made Marchand one of Boston’s best (and I don’t think that this one is really close when watching the B’s) when it comes to pushing the play up and into the attacking zone. And though it sometimes leads to a turnover going the other way, the 26-year-old’s ability to find an open man or generate a scoring chance when breaking into the zone is completely unmatched.
Marchand is also part of what I’d honestly consider the best shorthanded forward duo in the league. Paired next to
Patrice Bergeron when on the penalty kill, the two have a chemistry that just can’t be taught, and for a Bruins club that puts such an emphasis on their defensive structure, especially when down a man or two, the two have proven to be among the league’s best.
His 2013-14 campaign didn’t disappoint from this scope, either, as the Nova Scotia native’s contributions on the penalty kill this year included five shorthanded markers, tied with
Jonathan Toews for second most in the NHL. And even when not on the PK, Marchand is still going against some of the league’s top offensive lines as Bergeron’s fixture on the left wing of the B’s second line.
Marchand’s effectiveness as a goal-scorer isn’t really questionable, either.
Striking with 71 daggers since the start of the 2010-11 season (203 regular season games), Marchand’s effectiveness as an even-strength scorer has been perhaps the Bruins’ best kept secret. Finishing this season with 19 even-strength goals -- tying him with
Anze Kopitar,
Thomas Vanek, and
Patrick Kane in that department -- you could imagine that Marchand’s numbers would’ve been even higher had he been part of one of Boston’s unbelievably potent power-play units for more than a quick minute here and there this season.
As frustrating as his playoffs were from a scoring point of view, it’d seem tough to part with a player that embodies so much about what you love about your club (even-strength prowess) if you’re Chiarelli just one year after you traded
Tyler Seguin for a similar issue.
But above all else, it’s Marchand’s value that makes trading him seem like a mistake, really.
You get more production out of Marchand’s $4.5 million cap-hit than the Tampa Bay Lightning did with
Ryan Malone’s identical figure, or the Flyers have with
Vinny Lecavalier’s. Or Buffalo’s
Ville Leino, or the Stars’
Erik Cole. By now, (I pray that) you get it. Sending Marchand out of town creates more than a void on your second line. It means parting with a player that knows so much about your most important forward (Bergeron), and hoping that you can get somebody that can pot 20-25 goals per year without a lick of power-play time. That itself is rare.
So, I mean, maybe a slashing minor here or there seems worth it, all things considered.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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