BRIGHTON, Mass. -- Brad Marchand said he made no bones about his desire to retire a member of the Boston Bruins when talking contract extension with the only NHL organization he’s ever known, and now the B’s agitator will get that chance.
The 28-year-old Marchand signed an eight year contract extension worth $49 million last week that could conceivably make that happen, and will happen as long as he's somewhere close to the guy that posted 37 goals and 61 points last season.
At the very least, the contract guarantees he’ll be with the Black and Gold for at least the next six years with an ironclad no movement clause for that duration. Becoming a B's lifer is something the left winger, drafted and developed by the Bruins after being taken as a third rounder back in a franchise-changing 2006 NHL Draft, is excited to see if he can make happen as he’s now the Bruins played signed for the longest of anybody on the current NHL roster.
“That was always something I had expressed to them, and they told me I would have the opportunity to do it. Obviously things will have to line up even still. In this game I don’t think anybody is safe at any point in time,” said Marchand, who led all World Cup players over the last few weeks with his five goals scored in six games for Team Canada. “But to retire here would be a dream come true. There are very few players that play their whole career with one team nowadays, especially in the cap era it’s a lot tougher. There’s still a long way to go. There’s nine years left, but hopefully I do get to that point.”’
What might even be more of a rare feat for the Black and Gold: having two players in Marchand and Patrice Bergeron that could potentially retire as Bruins, and do so while playing together for such a long period of time.
Clearly it’s a long way off for both players now in the prime of their NHL careers, but it’s something for both the organization and their fan base to get excited about knowing that No. 63 and No. 37 will be suiting up together for the Black and Gold for a long, long time to come.
