The Boston Bruins’ season has been over for more than a month now, and yet the Bruins are happier this week than they’ve been in some time – and that’s because the draft pick Boston acquired in the trade deadline deal that sent Bs captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers has gone from a second-round pick to a first-rounder.
The Panthers will happily surrender that first-rounder because they’re now a final-four team, and one that’s six wins away from claiming their second straight Stanley Cup.
And while there’s some debate as to whether the Marchand deal was worth it from Boston’s perspective, this writer is of the opinion that, yes, the swap was absolutely worth it for the Bruins. Now, THN editor-in-chief Ryan Kennedy had a different opinion, stating on THN’s “The Big Show” broadcast that the pick is only going to be a late-first-rounder and that the damage it did to the Bruins’ fan base and the team in general wasn’t worth the transaction.
However, we agree with former NHLer Drew Shore, who appeared with Kennedy on “The Big Show” and said that he endorsed the trade, particularly if Marchand re-signs with the Bruins when he becomes a UFA this summer.
“I think it was the right thing to do,” Shore said of the trade. “I was talking to some of his old teammates in Boston, and I know that they’re all cheering for him really hard to win a Cup…and if (Marchand) ends up returning, I think it’s going to be kind of a home run deal for them.”
We’d go one step further and argue that, regardless of whether Marchand comes back to Boston, it was the right move for the Bruins to trade him. Marchand is essentially a rental player for Florida, and even if the first-rounder isn’t going to be a guaranteed NHLer, the fact remains that they converted an asset in Marchand that wasn’t going to make the Bruins a playoff team, and turned him into another swing at the plate for Boston’s draft and development team.
Of course, the trade will look much better if Marchand comes back. But from our point of view, there’s no downside at all to trading Marchand, regardless of how his future plays out. Bruins fans may have wanted him to be a Bruin for life, but very few players get to stick with one team their entire career, and Boston GM Don Sweeney made the most of a disappointing season by adding a potential player for the next 10-15 years in exchange for someone who wasn’t going to move the needle for them in any meaningful way.
Whatever PR hit Boston takes is well worth it if it means improving the Bruins’ talent pipeline. And what was the alternative? Not indulging Marchand’s request to be moved, and sending a message to players and player agents that Boston wouldn’t do right by the player (as THN director of digital media Michael Traikos noted)? No, the Bruins found a way not only to make Marchand happy, but they also took a situation where there were no bidding wars for Marchand’s services and still managed to get a valuable draft pick for him.
Any way you slice it, we think that’s a victory for Sweeney and the rest of Bruins management. Sure, you take a step backward for the final stretch of the regular season without him, but Boston was brutal this year with Marchand in the lineup, so why not move him and add a prospect that can help you in the long haul?
So yes, in this case, Shore was right – the Marchand deal was a home run, and it would’ve been a solid deal even if the draft pick was only a second-rounder. But it got better for Boston this week, and all sides – the Bruins, the Panthers and Marchand – are better today for it.
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