Brad Marchand’s Cup Triumph: A Bittersweet Victory for Boston Bruins Fans

brad Marshon has raised the Stanley Cup once again but let’s be honest even if he stayed in Boston likely wasn’t going to happen in black and gold you’re Locked on Bruins your daily podcast on the Boston Bruins part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day what is up Bruins fans and welcome back to the Locked On Boston Bruins podcast i’m your host Ian McLaren and this is a daily show where we discuss all things spoke to B today is Wednesday June 18th thank you so much for making Locked On Boston Bruins part of your day your first listen every day in fact part of the Locked Podcast Network your team every day and today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel right now new FanDuel customers can get $200 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins brad Marshon Stanley Cup winner but not in Boston we’re going to discuss it maybe the final word for now on this whole saga we’re going to talk about why even with Marshon the Bruins miles behind the Florida Panthers what it might take to catch up why Bruins fans are proud of Marshon and how he elevated the Panthers Cup run but also why it still hurts and how it symbolizes the closing of a Bruins era before we get into all that a quick reminder you can find the podcast on social media locked NHL Bruins that’s on X Blue Sky Instagram Threads even Tik Tok and you can find me my hockey thoughts and dad jokes Ian C McLaren i am a lifelong Boston Bruins fan and I’ve been covering this team for various outlets for about 20 years now brad Marshon Stanley Cup champion i have to confess I did not watch the end of last night’s game particularly tired had to get up early but also it it was just difficult the ending for me still hurts because of the unfinished business in Boston and two recent pretty good chances for our favorite team to have won namely 2023 when they lost to those Panthers and 2019 at game seven on home ice why was he there in the first place every day will know that I recently broke down all the options the Bruins had with Marshon and how trading him to the Panthers a team he wanted to go to for a seemingly low return but a first round pick in 2027 it’s all the result of this Bruins retool that was spurred on by a slow start this past season jim Montgomery fired joe Sacko taking over trade deadline selloff of Charlie Coyle Trent Frederick Brandon Carlo Justin Brazo yes Marshand and it all resulted in a record of 33 39 and 10 last in the East Eastern Conference the Bruins worst season in almost 30 years jeremy Swayman of course missed camp due to contract talks a very poor season career worst season following that contract stalemate ranked 92nd in goals saved above expected the Bruins had some underwhelming free agent signings last summer lindholm seven years 54.25 25 million just 47 points and played more like a three seed than a one seed for most of the season nikita Zidorov six years 30 million led the NHL in penalty minutes and had some defensive lapses throughout the season the Bruins ranked 29th on the power play gave up 13 short-handed goals worst in the NHL this was all exacerbated by Hampus Lindholm missing most of the season charlie Makavoy being injured at the Four Nations tournament and not being able to return not to mention Brad Marshon getting injured prior to the trade deadline which may or may not have hurt his value the Bruins were able to get a first round pick which had been a conditional pick panthers met those conditions and it turned into a um a first in 2027 other than that the Bruins just had no secondary scoring either outside of Postnak who had 106 points and Morgan Geeki’s 33 goals even when Marshon was with the team the secondary offense was pretty much non-existent and you see reports coming out today that Trent Frederick could get an eight-year deal from the Edmonton Oilers i don’t know how you look at his season and his postseason and think “Yeah this is a guy we need to extend for another eight years.” When Marshon was with the Bruins he had 21 goals 26 assists for 47 points uh which was still pretty good production for a guy who just turned 37 but still below what his production had been in his heyday with this team florida in contrast already a cupc caliber team obviously having won last year going to the final the year before that marshon was added for a future first the Bruins uh held on to some of the salary so it was a very low financial hit for them as well and importantly Marshon was able to go from huge minutes for the Bruins to a third line depth role his line with Anton Londell and Atu Lester Rinan outscored opponents 21-7 at five on five and he chipped in a shorty here and there and OT winner in game two versus the Oilers two massive goals in game five against the Oilers and that came after some big goals earlier especially won an OT winner in round two against the Toronto Maple Leafs so the Bruins especially after like you think oh a lot of people are saying “How could the Bruins trade Brad Marshon look what he did for the Panthers he’s probably going to get maybe a four-year deal $8 million which to me is still a bit rich for a guy who is 37 even with Marshon in the lineup the Bruins were struggling to maintain a playoff level take him off they’re nowhere near that and even if he ressigned um the chances of the Bruins winning a cup in the next few years kind of low and that’s why they’re exploring perhaps trading the seventh overall pick so that they can expedite that a little bit by acquiring like a legit number one center lindome isn’t that guy although he showed some signs near the end of the season with Geeky and Posternok uh the Bruins like in order to compete with a team like the Panthers they have to get a number one center they have to fix the power play deep in the blue line hit on the number seven pick and or trade that number seven pick um probably not relying on your prospect pool lysel Potra Laurai promising but not a savior by any stretch and they need to be kind of bold like Florida made huge swings in trading for Matthew Kachchuck even adding Brad Marshon and the Bruins must be willing to do something similar florida didn’t need to make a splash they didn’t need Brad Marshon to win they did it last year but they kind of needed Marshon to win in the sense that he gave them leadership and fresh energy that helped them seal the deal the Bruins not one two even three moves away they needed and still need a full-on reset and if they want to catch up it’ll take bold moves better drafting and a front office willing to roll the dice and swing big here coming up this off season for everything the Bruins may have lacked this past season in the end Brad Marshon got it right by pretty much picking where he wanted to go at the trade deadline it was hard to watch for Bruins fans but we also have every reason to be proud of what he just accomplished and we’ll break down why here as the podcast continues look the Stanley Cup playoffs are over but there’s still 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listen watch and enjoy so I’ve got mixed emotions right on one hand I’m genuinely happy for Brad Marshon i didn’t watch the celebration live but I’ve seen the clips you see him with his huge family there supporting him see him raising the cup partying with the Panthers that’s a bit tough to swallow and also yeah just enjoying life as a Stanley Cup champion his first cup came in his rookie season in 2011 second cup at age 37 14 years later one of the longest spans between cup wins in NHL history not that there haven’t been some chances we’ll talk about that in a little bit here marshon said he he has so much more appreciation now and it feels completely different and he was pretty big for these Panthers in fact he finished second in Kmite voting be behind Sam Bennett these two have become buds since the for nations into Marshon’s tenure with the Panthers and despite Bennett injuring Marshon in the playoffs last year to the Bruins detriment that’s where some of the mixed feelings come in but he had 10 goals 10 assists in 23 games for the Panthers double overtime game-winning goal in game two of the final a massive twogoal performance in game five versus Edmonton that was really the turning point of the series oilers just could not recover and could not force a game seven back in Edmonton he had an OT goal versus Toronto in round two and what helped him was that buyin mentality he thought he might come in and be like a fourthliner just wanted to buy in and help and he came out and became one of the Panthers most trusted playoff performers panthers GM Bill Zitto said he was more special than he could have imagined on and off the ice he was described as bringing joy and fire by his teammates a stabilizing energizing presence and as Scott Mlofflin wrote on WEI he was exactly what Florida needed to keep their edge this wasn’t a comes in and he’s a token player playing minuscule minutes and not making an impact this was Brad Marshon vintage performance almost at his very best and almost willing the Panthers to a Stanley Cup championship the second of his career and it establishes his legacy as a two-time Stanley Cup champion 1,000 plus games almost 1,000 points a clutch playoff performer multiple gold medals at the international level and make no mistake he’s got his eye on playing for team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics coming up in February in Italy he is a lock to be a member of the Hall of Fame even just based on what he did with the Bruins he could have gotten in his number’s going to be retired and again I really think he helped the Panthers get that extra boost in order to beat Edmonton once again not only do you have a player of his caliber skating on a third line role which is a massive luxury think about when the Bruins a few years ago had Taylor Hall on their third line with like Tyler Batusi they had like one of the best third lines going they were not able to take advantage of that of course but for him to come in and step up in his minutes played to make a huge impact on and off the ice it gave these Panthers that extra fire because look after all the games that they have played over the past couple of years getting to the final a couple years ago losing to the Golden Knights winning the cup last year deep run again this year you could have seen them falter a bit or get tired or just not losing motivation but just kind of wearing out but Marshon came in as an energizing presence and he didn’t just win another cup he redefined what it means to extend your legacy no matter the uniform bruins fans will always know he was one of the greats and he is a product of the Boston Bruins drafted developed leaned on the captain of this team and whatever else is in his future this isn’t the same as like Ray Bourc right where he was not able to franchise legend was not able to win the cup with the Bruins traded bit of a stint with Colorado finally got his cup there this was Brad Marshon already establishing his legacy uh it was a down year for the franchise they decided to go a different direction and there’s really no debate there whether or not that was the smart move to make he was 30 almost 37 at the time of the trade he was injured at the time of the trade so there was some uncertainty on Florida’s part as to whether he’d be able to come back and be an effective contributor and the Bruins didn’t want to lose him for nothing getting a draft pick that they can either use in a couple years or package in a trade to make more immediate uh to get more immediate help as much as we celebrate him and appreciate his legacy as a member of the Boston Bruins we can also admit the painful truth that it was not supposed to end this way he was not supposed to go out and he’s not going out but he was not supposed to reclaim that former glory as a member of the Florida Panthers it should have happened with the Bruins and I’ll touch on why we wish it had ended differently here as the podcast continues brad Marshon Stanley Cup champion with the Florida Panthers and it’s hard not to think it’s a cup celebration in the wrong jersey we imagined him handing the cup to Charlie Makavoy or David Posnock not Anon Anton Lundelle or A2 Lustster this was not the ending Bruins fans envisioned instead we are left with memories of game seven in 2019 and an unfortunate line change that led to a late first period goal for the St blues and tears on the bench realizing that they had wasted an opportunity to win still with Zedara Tukar Rasque David Crerache Patrice Berseron Brad Marshon and with some new guys in the mix David Posn Charlie Makavoy etc uh that would have been like if we looked back and saw that they had won that cup would have given the core another cup it would have given Rasque one as a starter um Berseron Marshon in their primes and that would have been a fitting ending for that core just eight years after winning the cup didn’t work out that way and there’s some transition lo and behold 2023 President’s Trophy the best regular season in NHL history the most wins the Bruins had an absolutely stacked and loaded roster and Don Sweeney went out and did everything he could to maximize that roster making some trades with the Washington Capitals and the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline um dipping into LTIR Taylor Hall was injured so they went out and got Tyler Batusi again massive collapse who knows like the biggest what if on my mind on a lot of people’s minds today is Brad Marshon breakaway game five against the Florida Panthers could have ended that series could have ended Florida’s dynasty before it began and could have altered Boston Bruins history like maybe Berseron still retires but at least he goes out on top same with David Crerachche um but it would cement the legacies of uh Dave Aostra Charlie Makavoy and of course Marshon Berseron and maybe there’s not maybe there’s are more runway when this season comes along and there’s a collapse for this team which led to this current retoolled that is getting underway marshon instead along with a bunch of other guys traded before the deadline he was dealt for a future first bruins retained some salary to make it work it made sense but it still hurt when things fall apart he said Marshon did you trade pieces but that doesn’t make it easier he didn’t want to go but he also didn’t want to stay on Boston’s terms he wanted to dictate his own terms after playing on team friendly deals for the majority of his career and deservedly so but the Bruins aren’t in a position right now where they can remain competitive while giving him 78 million per season uh another team will more power to them maybe he can replicate this performance but maybe also it’s just a perfect storm of Brad Marshon at the right time going to the right team berseron’s retired Crerie’s retired Char’s retired Rask is retired Marshon’s traded now a champion elsewhere and that emotional core that we got so attached to is gone fan response has been up and down i’m proud but it hurts that should have been in a Bruins jersey stopped watching after they traded him bring him back on July one for one last run the reality is they he already got a crack at two last runs with the Bruins they had that run in 2019 don’t make that line change and maybe things end differently they had that golden opportunity in 2023 president’s trophy curse aside if he scores on that breakaway and again it was kind of rushed it was last second whatever it’s a completely different thing and yes those were learning moments for Brad Marshon and he was able to say you know I’m not taking this for granted but you shouldn’t have taken 2023 for granted after losing in 2019 you shouldn’t have taken 2019 for granted after losing in 2013 any chance you get especially with guys that you have come up with and not a whole new group you have to take advantage of and I will always lament what missed opportunities there were for the Bruins in those couple of years uh it’s just a real bummer that he went out as a member of the Florida Panthers and not going out he’s he’s still signing somewhere but the end of the day Florida didn’t need that trade deadline miracle to win but adding Brad Marshon gave them playoff scoring veteran leadership and emotional fuel that helped seal the deal against a very talented Edmonton Oilers team he made a great team even better and that’s partly due to Don Sweeney trading him to the team that he wanted to go to and that kept the return down as did the fact that he was injured at the time the Bruins on the other hand not one two maybe even three pieces away they needed a fullscale reset both on and off the ice from topline center depth to special teams to defensive help injury insurance and beyond um and also handing the leadership mantle off to the next generation if the Bruins want to get back in the conversation it won’t be by hoping one guy gets hot and fixes it won’t be by hanging on to the past it’s going to take bold roster moves aggressive drafting or use of draft picks whether it’s in taking the best available player or trading that pick a front office willing to take calculated risks you can say they did that in hiring Marco Sturm just like Florida has done so a major congratulations to Brad Marshon giving Bruins fans a reason to be proud homegrown talent making good even if it wasn’t in black and gold but it’s still hard to see him um yeah just that balance of pride and heartbreak i’m sure I’m not the only one feeling about it are you proud are you sad are you both let me know at locked NHL Bruins and more importantly would you want Brad Marshaw back in Boston next season if the opportunity is there i don’t see it happening but who knows maybe that’s a discussion for another day for today a hearty congratulations to Brad Marshon and his family a well-earned second Stanley Cup i just wish it had happened in 2019 or 2023 2013 any year in between that’s it for today’s episode my friends i had planned on breaking down the development camp roster that was announced yesterday maybe we’ll jump on that tomorrow do check out the Locked On NHL podcast next as your second listen of course it’ll be jam-packed with reaction from last night’s Cup clinching victory for the Florida Panthers look there’s no offseason here on the Locked On podcast network we’re bringing you daily leaguewide stories that matter most with local coverage you love from Locked On find Locked On NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts same with Locked On Boston Bruins please do take care of yourselves friends take care of each other and we’ll talk to you again here on the next episode of Locked on Boston Bruins [Music]

Brad Marchand, former Boston Bruins captain, wins his second Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers. The podcast explores the bittersweet emotions of Bruins fans, proud of Marchand’s achievement yet lamenting missed opportunities in Boston. It delves into the Bruins’ recent struggles, their decision to trade Marchand, and the team’s need for a full reset. The host analyzes Marchand’s impact on the Panthers’ championship run, his legacy with the Bruins, and the closing of an era in Boston. The episode reflects on what could have been for the Bruins in recent years and ponders the team’s future as they aim to rebuild and compete with Cup-winning teams like Florida.

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6 comments
  1. I hope Bruins fans dont hate on Marchand. He did everything for your franchise. It was your GM that traded him in a surprise move at deadline.

  2. Luvd the guy since he started playin' the game.
    Luvd the Bruins even longer.
    Don't luv the Panthers tho'. 🤣
    But… another cup for Marchy eh. Nice.

  3. Cats won because they roll 4 good lines and March made them that much better . Good for him and he could have won the Smyth

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