Bruins captain Brad Marchand denies rumor that he is close to contract extension with the team
Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand denied a claim from Elliotte Friedman last night that he was close to signing a three-year contract extension with the Bruins.
The report came from Saturday headlines where Friedman was the first to share that the Bruins and Marchand were closing in on a contract extension. It seemed like a fitting conclusion to the night, as Marchand had arguably his best game of the season, recording an assist as well as his first goal of the season, which came in overtime. automatically making it the game-winner.
However, after the game, Marchand was asked about the report directly. He flatly denied the claim, but has been known to mess with reporters in the past, so perhaps he could just be having a little bit of fun.
Friedman himself recognized that Marchand denied the claim though, which would seem to indicate that there is really nothing here. With that being said, stranger things have been known to happen in the NHL, so it really wouldn't be all that surprising to see the Bruins announce a deal for Marchand later today.
It is nice to see the narrative around Marchand change though. Earlier this week, there was discussion about how Marchand's relationship with head coach Jim Montgomery must have been deteriorating because of the way he called him out during a game. However, Marchand himself later would go on to defend his coach, calling it 'unfortunate' that NHL coaches were under that much scrutiny. Now it is Marchand himself who is under scrutiny as we are suddenly expecting a contract extension announcement. Yet again, maybe we aren't though as Marchand himself denies the claim. Hopefully, we will get more clarity on this situation in the coming days.
