Boston Bruins
Brad Marchand Explains Why Contract Negotiations Fell Apart With Bruins
The Boston Bruins said they wanted to keep Brad Marchand.
Brad Marchand said he wanted to stay with the Boston Bruins.
Turns out, the two sides wanted very different things.
Speaking on Wednesday, Marchand gave his perspective on how negotiations with the Bruins fell apart last season, which ultimately led to him being traded to the Florida Panthers.
“I was never going to take a one or two-year deal. Not even a three-year deal. 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.”
Here's the full answer on Brad Marchand talking about his new contract with the Panthers and why playing as long as he can is so important to him with the Bruins shorter deal not working for him #NHL #Panthers #Bruins https://t.co/tERsF4k4CQ pic.twitter.com/61TtY385ZE
— Yianni Kourakis (@WPBF_Yianni) September 17, 2025
The Bruins and Marchand negotiated over terms up until the final day before the NHL trade deadline last March. It’s believed that Boston’s final offer at the time to its then captain was a two-year contract, worth $3 million per season. When it became clear the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement, the Bruins shipped Marchand to the Panthers for a conditional second-round draft pick in 2028, kickstarting a complete tear down of their roster.
Now down in Florida, Marchand has found everything he was looking for in Boston. He helped the Panthers win their second-straight Stanley Cup championship back in June, and later signed a six-year, $31.5 million that will keep him with the club through his age-42 season in 2032.
By re-signing Marchand and other high-profile players on their roster such as Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad, the Panthers have propped their championship window open for the foreseeable future.
“To call a spade a spade, if we were not in a non-tax state, it would not have worked out, probably for two guys” said Marchand. “That’s the benefit that this team has. I’m thrilled to be here for the next six years.”
Meanwhile, the Bruins are hoping to rebound from their miserable 2024-25 campaign as they embark on a whole new era in their franchise’s history. David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy are now the unequivocal leaders in the dressing room and will be tasked with guiding a new generation of players, just as Marchand once did for them.
The Bruins and Panthers will face each other four times this year, with the first matchup on Oct. 21 set to mark Marchand’s first game back in Boston at TD Garden.
