Major disagreement between Brad Marchand and Bruins GM Don Sweeney lead to his departure from Boston
Photo credit: NHL.COM
GM Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers acquired Brad Marchand in a trade that lacked the kind of punch we expected for a superstar, and now the worst has been confirmed for the team, alongside other information that ultimately lead to his departure.
The Boston Bruins flipped their former Captain Brad Marchand for a disappointing return of a 2nd round pick in 2027, that could become a conditional 1st-round pick.
The conditions are that it could become a 2028 1st-round pick for Marchand if they win the first two rounds of the playoffs.
New reports confirm the Bruins did Marchand quite dirty
This may not seem like a monumental task for the Panthers, who under Paul Maurice have turned into a contending team the last three seasons in the NHL.
They won their first Stanley Cup under his leadership and hoped Marchand could contribute this season as well.
However, they will have to contend with the fact that Marchand will be out for the remainder of the NHL season.
A prospect neither Maurice nor Zito anticipated and could be detrimental to the team's success at the end of the season.
Is this situation ringing any bells yet?
It's the old Vegas Golden Knights trick, all GM Bill Zito has to do now is place Marchand on LTIR as well in order to benefit from salary cap manipulation.
Considering they used it already to make enough cap space to acquire someone like Seth Jones says it all.
It is the new trend in the NHL, and Gary Bettman won't stop it as long as a team he loves does it.
The topic was addressed at the beginning of the season by Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, but we're not sure that any policy changes have manifested as a result.
«We've had preliminary talks with the players' association just so they're aware of the issue. They read about it, too,» Daly said. «And I don't really know, quite frankly, what the players' view of it is. So, it really would depend. I don't know what the receptiveness would be to try and address it. And it probably depends on how complicated the fix is.»
Regardless, if Mark Stone is on LTIR in April you know the deal, except this time around Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand have beat him there.
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