Are the Bruins handcuffing themselves by possibly extending Brad Marchand? Should they make him a Bruin for life, or deal him now?
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Don Sweeney yesterday indicating that the Bruins are working on an extension
00:07with Brad Marchand. That would mean they would not trade the veteran elsewhere.
00:12You can play that audio and then Curtis will give you his theory.
00:15Travers said that he'd like to be a Bruin for life. Do you want that?
00:19That's always been my ultimate goal. We've been in negotiations with Brad and
00:23communicating with him throughout the year. We'll have to have a conversation
00:27now that Four Nations is over. Sit down with Brad and his representatives and
00:30have a clearer path in the next two weeks as to what his final outcome will be.
00:37So you say that you know if you are thinking of shopping somebody and you
00:45want to get max value then you talk about how you can't wait to resign him
00:50and give him whatever he wants because he's Brad Marchand.
00:54There's no way in zero capacity does it benefit the team to
01:01publicly discuss trading Marchand until the deal has been consummated because
01:07you're already going to deal with backlash when you make the deal. Why
01:10would you let people in on the fact that you're shopping him before you
01:14actually execute the transaction? So if I'm running the Bruins to me and you
01:18don't do a full fire sale, offload anybody that you don't view as part of
01:24your core going forward then you're doing a disservice to the organization.
01:27I think it's a great move by Sweeney because even to take it to a deeper
01:31level of conspiracy what he's actually telling the league and the team that he
01:36could potentially trade him to is that Brad still wants to play. So that new
01:41team that would trade for a guy like Brad Marchand would go oh we can now
01:46maybe sign him for another couple of years and he can obviously help us this
01:51year to get over the hump but he'll still be part of organization for the
01:56next couple of years to win a Stanley Cup because you're not going to trade
02:00him to some crappy team you're gonna trade him to a contender so it's pretty
02:04good for him to say that. When Cam and Don Sweeney are sitting down today
02:09tomorrow whatever how quickly do you think they look at this team being a
02:16team that can move past the first round of the playoffs? A year? Two years? A year.
02:24A year? Yes absolutely. Is it that easy in hockey though? Well yes I mean they
02:32fired their coach and then they had the record number of wins in the regular
02:35season I mean. Yeah but they already had a core that was had proven that they
02:40could win in the playoffs like with this team you're even if you get a new
02:46coach you're bringing back the same core. Look at we saw Binnington in the USA
02:52Four Nations game against Canada. The Blues were out of the playoffs halfway
02:57through the year they won the Stanley Cup they they were a mediocre team that
03:00got hot and no other sport is it easier to go you know Swayman plays out of his
03:05mind and you could win a you could win a round I'm not saying Stanley Cup
03:09contender but I'm like for me this whole core of Marchand, Bergeron, Shara that
03:15era is one of the more overrated eras in the history of Boston sports. They won
03:21once and they haven't won in 14 years and so to me I want to see the direction
03:28of this team I want to see a new coach right I'd like to see a new GM right but
03:32either way you can't approach this deadline extending Marchand makes zero
03:37sense. Zero. Right but you have the thing the problem that you have is you don't
03:43have where's your new core that you're building around like building around
03:47Posta and McAvoy okay great you're not gonna trade those guys but Zdorov has
03:53been a major feel both Lindholms have been a major feel. So when you think
03:59that when you think of like the core and the other guys you really only have
04:05because you would trade Coyle you would trade well you can't I still think you
04:11can't trade Charlie Coyle he did that seven-year deal where he can't can't be
04:17traded. He's from Sturbridge. But you would though right you do you do you
04:21look at him as because you asked the question like if they're sitting there
04:25and they go all right if if we bring everybody back so now we got to do kind
04:31of do the thought processes do occur to says we got to pray and hope that the
04:35goalie gets hot for us to make a deep run. That's why I'm saying it's not like
04:39you have you're stuck with guys and you get credit for going for it two seasons
04:46ago or whatever when you had the best record in the league but you also hurt
04:51yourself by doing deals with guys who didn't pan out right you're stuck there
04:56and couldn't you make the argument that the only cup they have is because their
04:59goalie played out of his mind yeah like if Tim Thomas is just great not
05:04unbelievable. You have like Patrice Bergeron in his prime Curtis yeah did you watch the
05:08Canadian series when they were down two games to none and double overtime and
05:11Tim Thomas made save after save after save. I would say you that he was the
05:16reason why you were able to win a Stanley Cup right but you had a good
05:19enough core that even though when you moved on from Tukarac you had enough
05:24talent to be able to get you there and then obviously it's about how the goalie
05:28plays but this is similar to what like we saw with the Patriots from a couple
05:31years ago you go out and you get all these guys and then these guys don't
05:36stop panning out and then the question becomes and I don't know about hockey
05:40how long do you wait and stick around with these guys or do you say all right
05:46we just gotta rip it down and try to build a whole new core of players around
05:53Postler and Coyle yeah because do you feel good about the core that they have
05:59outside of Postler excuse me not Coyle but McAvoy no I really don't so if you
06:05are the Bruins and you're coming and you're sick you like you asked I mean
06:08Hampus Lindholm was you know a little above math right until the injury and
06:14now he's done but other than that Zdorov is meh Elias Lindholm is meh you know
06:23you we've talked about Charlie Coyle and maybe he's a good third line centerman
06:28but you're paying him he should be a top six forward then you brought up Geeky
06:33you brought up what Frederick you brought up so I get I would I get
06:39whatever you can for everybody for everybody right so now it's if it is it
06:46is it possible to trade guys that you only have for one year like would you
06:50think about trading if that I'm asking this question would you think about
06:53trading if you could lend home both lend homes and yeah you're gonna end up
06:59having to cover I would assume some of that salary okay so maybe you wouldn't
07:05want to do it then because I was gonna throw Zdorov off. Zdorov stinks you need to ship
07:09him out of here ASAP he is a walking two-minute miner right so is that
07:14somebody that you would look to trade Chime one year after you gave him a
07:18pretty good contract yep absolutely all right eat some of the contract I don't
07:21care get him out all right all right so then I guess those are the questions
07:25that and then Curtis brings up a good point is do the Jacobs feel like Cam and
07:31Sweeney can have can they do enough to change this team and get them back or
07:38have they been or at least Cam has he been around here long enough and Sweeney
07:43where it's like now we might need some new fresh blood or at least hey Cam you
07:48got to go in a different direction than Sweeney yeah I mean we were out I'll just
07:51say during the roadshow season we spoke with someone who would know that said
07:56that the brass Charlie Charlie's dad chairman Jacobs Jeremy is still very
08:02engaged speaks to cam nearly we were told almost daily yes so so nearly safe
08:08I I would I would guess that nearly safe but I don't know if Sweeney is right and
08:13that would nearly move on from it seems like Sweeney and say all right maybe we
08:19need to get a new guy and I don't I don't put a lot of it on Don Sweeney
08:23like I what who do you put it on they ended up going for it and I put it on
08:31the players like they went out and mortgage their future that you know
08:36record-setting season mm-hmm and the players they try to put on the coach the
08:41players weren't able to advance past the first round but he did select the
08:45players right and he made the wrong decision in firing Cassidy like he may
08:49not be entirely his fault but he does have some culpability in this don't
08:52think the Bruins in a better place now if Cassidy's here you don't have the
08:55Monteiro yes and that was your biggest thing so that was so you would go wait a
09:00second that was Sweeney's decision to move on from Cassidy well I thought it
09:05was Patrice Bergeron's decision that's what everybody around here told me yeah
09:09maybe but maybe part of it was could have stopped it that's the truth but
09:13maybe part of it was Sweeney was rat would rather listen to Bergeron and the
09:17players and say take their side and move on from Cassidy yeah cuz what are
09:23you gonna do you it looks like you're gonna be in the market for a new coach
09:27anyways so now what's that direction look like you save money you get a coach
09:32GM