Brad Marchand Calls Out Elliotte Friedman, Denies Contract Extension Rumors as Completely False
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported last night that the Bruins and Brad Marchand are close to an agreement for a three-year contract extension.
It has been a slow start to the season for Marchand. Coming into last night's game, the Bruins captain had just four points, all assists through eight games. Perhaps these contract negotiations have given him life though as he had himself his first multi-point game of the season. According to Friedman the deal is three-years long, but he revealed no further information, such as the cap hit.
However, Brad Marchand was asked about this report from Friedman during the post game presser after beating the Maple Leafs and Marchand had a pretty shocking response.
Marchand was actually involved in some drama with head coach Jim Montgomery earlier this month, which had some fans worried about his future with the team. However, it would now appear as though this was not a big deal. Montgomery was highly complementary of Marchand after the game.
Of course, it certainly did not hurt that the Bruins were playing the Leafs last night. Marchand always shows up against the Leafs and he did so again recording an assist before ending the game in overtime with the game-winner for his first goal of the season. To give Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz some credit though, he made a ridiculous save on the initial shot, but could not contain the rebound.
It would make sense why the Bruins would want to sign Marchand so early in the season. After all, they just recently secured Jeremy Swayman on the eve of the season opener, effectively saving their season. Certainly, the team will want to avoid those types of negotiations going forward, especially with someone as important as the captain of the team. Regardless, it should be interesting to see what the terms of this contract look like. What will the cap hit be, will there be trade protection, etc. At 36 years old, one would have to imagine that this would be the final deal of his career. Would that mean he spends his entire career as a Bruin? We'll just have to wait and see.
