The Boston Bruins, mired in a mediocre start to the season, might face a tough decision regarding franchise icon Brad Marchand.
With the team sitting at a middling 12-11-3 record and under interim head coach Joe Sacco following the firing of Jim Montgomery, the Bruins’ struggles could force major roster changes.
NHL insider Chris Johnston listed team captain Marchand 10th in his latest “NHL Trade Board” published over at The Athletic on Nov. 21.
Marchand, who is playing the final season of his contract, is now being discussed as a potential trade candidate among league sources speaking to Johnston.
“As a league source noted this week,” Johnston wrote, “I don’t think anyone in Boston thought this is where they’d be at.”
“If the decision to replace Jim Montgomery with Joe Sacco behind the Bruins bench doesn’t produce the desired results, some difficult personnel decisions will almost certainly follow.”
While Marchand has spent all 16 of his NHL seasons with the Bruins, the 35-year-old winger’s future in Boston appears uncertain if only because of the broad team’s struggles.
Marchand himself downplayed any notion of an imminent extension refuting an insider’s report at the end of October, stating talks were not progressing.
Johnston highlighted the veteran’s value, despite a slower start this season after undergoing multiple surgeries in the offseason.
“Marchand remains a high-end winger who can contribute offensively, kill penalties, and, yes, get under an opponent’s skin,” Johnston wrote.
For now, Marchand has eight goals and 17 points in 26 games, while the Bruins cling to third place in the Atlantic Division trailing the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers.
