Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
The 2014-15 season was a year of hits and misses for the Black and Gold.
In spite of a 96-point season, the Bruins saw their seven-year postseason streak come to an end, realized that their core may be aging faster than they originally anticipated, and ultimately saw their general manager take the fall for the club’s shortcomings. In the month of May (and June), we’ll take a look at the season of every player on the B’s and their future with the club heading on into 2015-16.
The series rolls on with Boston’s beloved agitator, Brad Marchand.
The Basics
Player: Brad Marchand Age: 27 2014-15 Stats: 24 goals, 42 points, plus-5 rating in 77 games played. Contract: $4.5 million cap-hit through 2016-17 season. How he got here: Drafted by Bruins with 71st overall pick in the 2006 NHL Draft.
Overview
I don’t think there’s been a Boston Bruins player that’s been more wrongly thrown into trade rumors as part of the B’s ‘problems’ over the last few years than top-six winger Brad Marchand. (But as I finished typing this, B’s defenseman Zdeno Chara knocked on my door and said hello.)
Did you know that since the start of the 2011-12 season, Marchand is 25th among NHL players in goals scored? His 95 goals (or just under 24 per season) are more than Claude Giroux, Thomas Vanek, Patrick Sharp, Matt Moulson and Eric Staal over that stretch. He’s recorded those goals in a variety of ways, too. Power play (12), even strength (73), and shorthanded (10). You name it, and Marchand’s done it for the Black and Gold.
But as postseason success eluded Marchand since his incredible 2011 run -- Marchand’s scored just five goals and 20 points in 41 playoff games since 2012 -- the trade vultures circled No. 63. I think that weighed on the Nova Scotia native, too. It could have played a factor as to why Marchand spent last offseason visiting with a sports psychologist. But it didn’t stop him from putting up yet another productive year as the Bruins’ most consistent winger on their top six.
An all-zone, all-situation constant to Patrice Bergeron’s left, Marchand continued to be just that in 2014-15, finishing the season with a team-high 24 goals scored, while his CF% was an impressive 56.4 (second to, of course, Bergeron). But Marchand doesn’t simply feed off the effectiveness of Bergeron. Yes, like any strong one-two punch, the luxury of an all-word center has helped, but Marchand has grown into an effective talent in his own right, and is perhaps the strongest possession-driving wing the Bruins have breaking out of their own end and on into the attacking zone.
Those figures didn’t do enough to put Marchand, who so badly wanted a chance at redeeming his recently lackluster postseasons with a strong playoff run, at ease at the end of the season.
“I thought the season was ok, but at the same time obviously you didn’t do enough when you don’t make the playoffs and the team doesn’t succeed,… Marchand said. “I don’t think any of us played the way we can and I don’t think anybody would say they had a good year.
“It’s obviously very disappointing but an uphill battle, we didn’t have the same group we had in the past but we still had a team that was able to compete and to win games but we didn’t play the way we can all year. Guys didn’t step up when we needed them to. Ultimately what cost us games and the season.…
In spite of his own words, I think you’d be crazy to put him in the group of players that cost them wins.
The Good
When the Black and Gold were in the middle of an insane battle for the East’s wild card spots and in desperate need of a win in a Mar. 7 matinee against the Philadelphia Flyers, Marchand created the spark and delivered. Not only did he score the game-tying marker with just 15 seconds left in the third period, but he also capped off the day’s festivities with the overtime-winner, his 21st goal of the season.
The Bad
Much of 2014-15 was successful for Marchand, yeah, but he did have two definite minuses to his name.
The first? His start to the year. It took Marchand eight games to record his first goal of the season, and he ultimately began the regular-season with just one goal and three points in the first 11 games of the year. That was a .27 point per game start to the season. Marchand would rebound with a stronger finish -- 23 goals and 39 points in the 66 games that followed -- but had Marchand produced at that rate for the entire season and you’re talking about a 48-point year, not a 42-point year. (Minor, sure, but still.)
The second? Marchand’s two-game suspension for slew-footing New York center Derick Brassard. It was a selfish play and put him on the shelf for two contests. The Bruins went 1-1-0 with Marchand out of the lineup, but when you’re trying to reinvent your image and drop a reputation as Marchand has frequently talked about, a two-game ban will not help your cause, unfortunately.
The Future
Marchand has two years remaining on a contract that comes with a $4.5 million cap-hit and includes a no-trade clause. And I hope, for my own sanity, that this isn’t yet another summer where you’re hearing Marchand’s name in trade rumors. While I understand that the Black and Gold are likely not a Stanley Cup contender with Marchand as their top scoring threat, the argument that he’s not a valuable second-line three-zone threat is pure nonsense at this point. He shouldn’t be thee guy to take you to a Cup, but I absolutely believe that he’s still a player you can (and will) win with. Finding a linemate to put on his opposite wing instead of the insanely hot-and-cold Reilly Smith (Loui Eriksson, please?) will pay off big time for both Marchand and the Bruins, too.
Previous Bruins Year in Reviews Gregory Campbell Brett Connolly Milan Lucic Reilly Smith Danny Paille Loui Eriksson Chris Kelly Dougie Hamilton Carl Soderberg Matt Bartkowski Dennis Seidenberg Torey Krug Ryan Spooner Adam McQuaid
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