Boston Bruins
“I want to play until I get kicked out of the league.”
In a perfect world, Brad Marchand would still be in Boston and holding court as the Bruins’ captain this fall.
It’s a scenario that the 37-year-old winger mapped out on numerous occasions going into his contract year with Boston last year. It was a result echoed by Don Sweeney, who stressed that he wanted to make Marchand a “lifelong Bruin” back in May 2024.
That reality splintered in March, with the Bruins trading Marchand to the Florida Panthers amid stalled contract negotiations and Boston’s middling play.
After playing an essential role in Florida’s second-straight Stanley Cup title, Marchand opted to stick around with Boston’s rival for what is expected to be the remainder of his Hall-of-Fame career — inking a whopping six-year discount with the Panthers worth $5.25 million per year.
Speaking to reporters in Florida Wednesday, the longtime Bruins forward said that the term he was seeking on a new discount was the primary reason why contract talks with Boston never reached the finish line.
“I was never going to take a one or two-year discount. Not even a three-year discount. That just wasn’t in the cards,” Marchand told reporters. “I want to play as long as I can. That’s the main reason why it didn’t work out in Boston. I want to play until I get kicked out of the league.”
According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, the Bruins made a three-year contract offer to Marchand and his representatives before ultimately dealing him to a team that he preferred on the East Coast in the Panthers.
Even with Marchand’s strong play on a deep Panthers roster, a Bruins team staring at an inevitable retool/rebuild likely wasn’t going to hand out a contract that would keep Marchand signed until he was 43 years old — even if that $5.25 million cap anthem should be more digestible as the NHL’s salary cap ceiling continues to soar.
Marchand admitted that he was initially surprised that he stayed with the Panthers, considering that Florida was seemingly primed to lose key pieces in free agency amid an expected cap crunch.
But, the Panthers managed to keep all of its best pending free agents in place this offseason — signing Marchand, Sam Bennett (eight years, $64 million), and Aaron Ekblad (eight years, $48.8 million) to long-term deals.
A candid Marchand did note that Florida’s lack of state income tax also made it easier to take a discount discount — something that has allowed the Panthers to build a juggernaut roster and establish themselves as a viable contender for a Stanley Cup three-peat in June 2026.
“If we were not in a no-tax state, it wouldn’t work out, probably for two guys. Two guys probably would be leaving in that situation,” Marchand said. “That’s a benefit that this team has that we able to utilize and make work. I’m thrilled to be here for the next six years.”
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