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Brad Marchand

Brad Marchand Suspended Two Games For Spearing

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The Department of Player Safety has come down on Brad Marchand, issuing a two game suspension for his spear on Jake Dotchin Tuesday night. Marchand will be held out for the remainder of the regular season but—luckily for the Bruins—will be available for game one of the playoffs. This is Marchand’s fifth suspension of his career, while he has also been fined multiple times for dangerous plays.

There will be two very different reactions to this decision. One will point to the fact that Sidney Crosby received no supplementary discipline for a similar spear recently, with the other saying that these two games are meaningless because Boston has already clinched a playoff spot. While it is true the Crosby didn’t even get a hearing from the league for his incident with Ryan O’Reilly, it’s Marchand’s history and forcefulness that makes the punishment more severe. In the video explanation, the league seems to respond directly to the Crosby comparison:

What causes this play to rise to the level of supplemental discipline is the intent, the amount of force used, and Marchand’s substantial history of attacking the lower body of opponents. This is not incidental or inadvertent contact. This is not light contact that, while illegal, does not rise to the level of supplemental discipline. 

While it can certainly be argued whether Crosby’s incident was “light contact” it’s clear the league found this much more violent. Regarding the idea that the next two games are meaningless, though the Bruins have locked up their positions the last two games could change where they finish dramatically. The Bruins will face off with the Ottawa Senators tonight, a team they are tied with just one point ahead of the Maple Leafs. Should the Bruins lose their final two games, it is very likely that they could finish in the second wildcard position and have to face the Washington Capitals—who just locked up the President’s Trophy—in the first round.

Because spearing is almost never punished with any supplementary discipline, it makes this case hard to compare. The penalty is basically entirely based on Marchand’s history, and as such two games can be seen as extreme or insignificant from different parties. In a year that has seen more criticism towards the DoPS decisions than usual, this will (hopefully) be the final chapter.

Morning Notes: ISS Rankings, Marchand, Girard

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The International Scouting Service (ISS) has released their latest draft rankings, and the center position dominates. Behind Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier—who are still ranked #1-2 respectively—Gabe Vilardi slides into the #3 slot and twelve other centers appear in the top-31 names. While many of the names down the list don’t project as elite first line players, there is a lot of talent to be had to build a team from the middle. Casey Mittelstadt has jumped to number five, and Timothy Liljegren continues to drop down the list.

A name we’ve said to watch before, Owen Tippett, has moved all the way up into the #4 position and is having a strong playoff run with Mississauga. The Steelheads are through to the next round and will face the Oshawa Generals on Friday. Tippett is the best pure goal scorer in the draft, and will have an interesting case for jumping right to the NHL next season.

  • Brad Marchand will have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety on Thursday, regarding the spearing incident last night. Marchand used his stick to violently spear Jake Dotchin in the groin and was assessed a five minute major and game misconduct. With the Boston Bruins clinching a playoff spot last night, any suspension that took Marchand out for more than two games would leak into the postseason and possibly be devastating for the club. The Hart Trophy candidate has been suspended three times in the past and fined on multiple occasions. His standing as a repeat offender may mean at least one playoff game will be included.
  • The Nashville Predators have assigned Samuel Girard to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. The 18-year old defenseman was eliminated from the playoffs when Shawinigan lost to Val-d’Or on Sunday. A second-round pick last summer, Girard had 75 points in 59 games and added another nine in five playoff contests. His offensive potential is incredible, and the Predators defense factory has turned undersized players into excellent all-around defenders before.
  • After playing in two games with the Red Wings, Evgeny Svechnikov has been sent back to the AHL. The young winger was held pointless, but scored the shootout winner against the Ottawa Senators on Monday night. He’ll now head down to the Grand Rapids Griffins and try to win a Calder Cup.

David Pastrnak & Leon Draisaitl: The Next Contract

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The 2016 restricted free agent market was one of the most talented – and most entertaining – in recent memory. As hockey moves more and more toward youthful skill and speed, the dynamics of team building have changed as well, as last summer marked the “death of the bridge deal“. A multitude of massive extensions for young players were handed out, including giant new deals for forwards like Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele, Calgary duo Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau, and Florida pair Jonathan Huberdeau and Vincent Trocheck. The 2017 RFA group is no slouch either; it features star scorers such as Minnesota’s Mikael Granlund, Vancouver’s Bo Horvat, Nashville’s Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson, the Tampa Bay trio of Jonathan Drouin, Tyler Johnson, and Ondrej Palat and more.

Yet, the two most intriguing restricted free agents are the youngest of the group: 20-year-old Boston Bruins right winger David Pastrnak and 21-year-old Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl. Last summer opened the door for the game-changing pair to skip right over an affordable short-term deal that would keep them restricted into a third contract for the “prime” of their career. Now, Pastrnak and Draisaitl have the newly-minted industry standard option of asking for a six- to eight-year deal, lasting well into their late 20’s, worth somewhere in the range of $5-7MM annually. So what exactly will the new contracts look like this summer?

Pastrnak’s agent, J.P. Barry, is on the record as saying that his client is looking for a long-term deal and they are viewing the contracts of Monahan, Scheifele, and Filip Forsberg as comparisons. Forsberg signed a six-year, $36MM extension last June, worth $6MM annually, while Monahan re-signed for $6.375 per year for seven seasons and Sheifele agreed to $6.125MM a year for the maximum eight seasons. The only problem for Pastrnak and his representation in making those comparisons is the consistency argument. Pastrnak has an impressive 64 points through 68 games so far this season, much like Monahan’s 63 point total last year. However, Monahan also put up 62 points the year before and 34 as a rookie. He was only slightly older than Pastrnak when he agreed to an extension, but had far greater production in his first two seasons when compared to Pastrnak’s back-to-back mid-20’s performances. Scheifele also had a similar season to Pastrnak’s last year with 61 points in 71 games, but he too outperformed the young Czech the prior two seasons – and was two years older – when inking his eight-year mega deal. Like Monahan, Forsberg had consecutive 60+-point seasons before earning his new deal.

The Monahan, Scheifele, and Forsberg comparison works far better for Draisaitl. Now in his third NHL season, but still just 21, Draisaitl leads all impending RFA’s with 70 points on the year, following up his breakout 51-point campaign in 2015-16. With back-to-back strong seasons, like the previously described trio, Draisaitl should be comfortably within the $6-6.5MM annual range for his upcoming contract. The Oilers will have to keep in mind the possible record-setting deal awaiting them in Connor McDavid next year, but will not hesitate to pay Draisaitl, who is already one the best #2 centers in the NHL. While a very different player, Draisaitl’s early career arc closely resembles that of Gaudreau, and “Johnny Hockey” signed on for six more years in Calgary at $6.75 per, so don’t be surprised if Draisaitl actually ends up exceeding the $6-6.5MM annual range in his new deal or agrees to seven or eight years as compensation for a lower yearly value.

So what of Pastrnak? No one doubts that he will continue producing at a high level, especially with Boston’s top offensive stars like Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, and David Backes signed long-term and in influx of promising talent on it’s way. However, with just one – albeit unbelievable – high-scoring season under his belt, Pastrnak may not be able to crack that $6MM per year mark. Some may point to MacKinnon, the youngest and arguably most talented RFA to re-sign last year, and say that Pastrnak should get the same seven-year contract worth $6.3MM annually. However, MacKinnon was a #1 overall pick and had established himself as a top-line center with a 63-point rookie season in 2013-14, far ahead of where Pastrnak was at that point, which cancels out some of his more recent struggles. Instead, a better comparison is likely Panthers scorers Trocheck and Huberdeau. Like Pastrnak, Trocheck and Huberdeau found only middling success in their first two NHL seasons. Trocheck had a big breakout last year, jumping to 53 points in 76 games, and was rewarded with a six-year deal worth $4.75MM per year. Huberdeau had his breakout in 2014-15 with 54 points and then backed it up 59 points last season, before inking a six-year extension worth $5.9MM annually. What Pastrnak has done this year clearly surpasses anything that the Florida duo have yet to put up and Trocheck and Huberdeau were also two years older than Pastrnak will be when they re-signed, but they set up a more accurate range for what the Bruins wunderkind should expect this summer. Taking likely cap inflation into consideration, Pastrnak is looking at a six-year extension worth $5-6MM per season. Given the Bruins recent issues with retaining young talent, it’s a fair assumption that they won’t play hardball with the young sniper, so expecting the upper side of that scale is perfectly reasonable.

The Best Deal Of The Offseason: Brad Marchand

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When you think back on any signing season, your mind immediately goes to the big deals handed out to free agents. This season saw over $600MM dollars handed out on the first day of free agency, and was followed by a lucrative summer for tons of players. Because of the lack of a superstar name—thanks Steven, you couldn’t just wait another couple of days?—second-tier all-stars were given incredibly lucrative contracts. Recently, our Zach Leach took a look back at July 1st and the mistakes teams made, handing out term and money to players who were perhaps already over the hill.

Brad MarchandBut this offseason’s best deal may not have come until much later in the summer. In fact it didn’t happen in the summer at all, but on September 26th just a few weeks before the Boston Bruins would start their season. The Bruins were getting ready for their preseason debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets—a game they would lose in a shootout—while two thirds of their top line was prepping for the World Cup of Hockey final in Toronto.

It was that morning of the 26th that Bob McKenzie of TSN would report that the Bruins had completed a contract extension with Brad Marchand that would see him stay in Boston for another eight years. He would be paid $6.125MM each season with several different clauses attached. Even though he was starring at the World Cup alongside Sidney Crosby—and would score the tournament winning goal just a few days later, shorthanded with 44 seconds left—many people thought the deal was a huge overpay. In fact, the replies to McKenzie’s tweet are mixed at best, with it being hard to understand the value Marchand brought to the Bruins.

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Boston Bruins “More Likely Than Not” To Be Silent At Deadline

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For all the Boston Bruins fans out there that want to see Kevin Shattenkirk, Matt Duchene and any other rumored trade candidate in the black and yellow, you might just have to wait. GM Don Sweeney told the Boston Herald’s Stephen Harris that while still doing his due diligence on all the available options around the league, it is “more likely than not that [the Bruins] won’t make any deadline deals.”

That may frustrate fans, but perhaps there is a silver lining. Most of the trade rumors that have surrounded the Bruins in recent weeks have focused on Brandon Carlo or Charlie McAvoy heading the other way, something that the team just shouldn’t do. Those two look like locks to be half of their top-four for the next decade, covering both size (Carlo) and offense (McAvoy). Giving up on either of them right now might feel like an improvement, but could end up stinging down the road.

For now though, the Bruins sit tied with the Maple Leafs for third in the Atlantic Division and the Islanders for the final wildcard spot, and have turned things around since firing Claude Julien and replacing him with Bruce Cassidy. The team has gone 5-1 since the switch and although some may credit the improved goaltending more than the coach, the team is in the hunt regardless.

To be sure, GMs and executives make claims like this quite often just to turn around and do the opposite when an opportunity presents itself. The Bruins could use some help up front and another top-four defender, and would likely jump if one came available at the right price. As it stands, Bruins fans can buckle down and get ready for the grind with this group, hoping the MVP-caliber performance of Brad Marchand continues and Zdeno Chara gets some of his mojo back.

Snapshots: Marchand, ISS, Avalanche

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Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand will not face any supplemental discipline for his trip of Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Marchand skated behind Stralman and turned sharply, taking Stralman’s left leg out from under him (Streamable link to incident). Stralman told Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times that he “can’t expect anybody to see [the play]” because of where it happened on the ice. When asked about the lack of a penalty on the play, Stralman said “I can’t say if he did anything or not, but I’m not the puck holder. I’m out in the neutral zone, and I get hit from behind. That’s all I got to say.”

The play was similar to another play involving Marchand last week. Marchand made a similar movement behind Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall (Streamable link). The Bruins pest was fined $10K for the incident. Friedman reported that there will be no supplemental discipline because the play wasn’t seen as intentional.

The All-Star Marchand has 49 points in 52 games this season. The Bruins have won three in a row and are now three points up on the Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division.

  • The International Scouting Service has released its Top 31 draft rankings for February. Brandon Wheat Kings center Nolan Patrick remains atop the list, followed by right-handed Swedish defenseman Timothy Liljegren, dynamic Swiss forward Nico Hischier, OHL sniper Owen Tippett, and big center Gabe Vilardi in the top five. Hischier had three points in the recent CHL Top Prospects Game, while Patrick and Tippett had two, and Vilardi one.
  • Speaking of top draft picks, the Colorado Avalanche are in for a tough rebuild, writes Cat Silverman of FanRag. While pro sports is usually divided into top teams with few prospects and poor teams with prospects aplenty, the Avalanche fall into an unfortunate middle ground: they’re a poor team with few prospects. The Avalanche are by far the worst team in the NHL (10 points below the 29th place Coyotes and on pace for the worst NHL season since the expansion Atlanta Thrashers) and they’re not even intentionally tanking. Silverman writes that Colorado fans need to accept that the team is going to be bad for the next little while as they trade away players like Matt Duchene and re-stock their prospect pipeline. It’s going to be a slow process because “unlike the other rebuilding teams, the Avalanche haven’t been grabbing pieces for the future. They’ve been losing, but trying to win now, and it’s left them at the bottom of the standings with little in the way of future help.”

Atlantic Division Snapshots: Marchand, Julien, Toronto

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Brad Marchand has avoided a suspension for his “dangerous trip” of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall in a recent game between the two clubs, the NHL Department of Player Safety has announced. Instead the pesky forward was assessed a $10,000 fine, the maximum allowed under terms of the CBA.

Given his history with the DoPS – he’s been suspended four times overall in his career and on three separate occasions since the start of the 2014-15 campaign – it seemed likely Marchand would be suspended. However, the fact Kronwall showed no apparent ill-effects from the incident may have saved the Bruins leading scorer from that outcome. Ultimately, not losing Marchand for any length is certainly great news for a Boston club fighting desperately for a postseason berth.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • In an ESPN Insider piece (subscription required), Rob Vollman makes an argument utilizing analytics for the Boston Bruins to refrain from terminating embattled head coach Claude Julien. Vollman compares the season-to-date performance of Boston to that of the New York Islanders, who dismissed head coach Jack Capuano recently. On the surface, the two are quite similar but an analysis of shot-based metrics reveal a different outcome. The Bruins have the league’s best shot attempt differential with a plus-488 while the Islanders were a minus-293 at the time of Capuano’s firing. He also compares the career accomplishments of the two coaches, and again Julien holds a decided advantage. Ultimately Vollman concludes it would be foolish to let Julien go. While the scribe makes a compelling case, it is known every coach has a shelf life and Julien is in his 10th season as the head man in Boston. If Bruins management concludes the bench boss has lost his team, or that his message simply isn’t getting through anymore, it may be best to move on.
  • Craig Custance, also of ESPN, believes the time is now for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the team’s management to add experienced talent to take advantage of the young guns currently on ELC’s. Custance compares the current Leafs roster with that of the 2007-08 Chicago Blackhawks. That happened to be the year both Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane debuted in the NHL. As Custance points out, even with the two talented young superstars leading the way, it wasn’t until Chicago added Brian Campbell (2008) and Marian Hossa (2009) did the team ultimately develop into a Stanley Cup contender. He maintains that the addition of Campbell helped turn the team’s defense corps into a quicker, more efficient puck-moving unit. Hossa, Custance adds, showed the team’s young stars how important it is to play smart, two-way hockey. The scribe suggests the Leafs should pursue a similar strategy and while there may be no player available comparable to Hossa, Kevin Shattenkirk could certainly fill the role for Toronto that Campbell did for Chicago. Shattenkirk might well be available via trade, though unless Toronto was able to ink the mobile defender to a contract extension, it would qualify as a risk to sacrifice the assets necessary to convince St. Louis to strike a deal.

Marchand To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced today that Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins will have a hearing for what they refer to as a “dangerous trip on Detroit’s Niklas Kronwall,” during the game last night between the two teams. Marchand, who scored two goals in Boston’s 4 – 3 OT win, was not penalized on the play but it stands to reason a suspension could be looming.

Marchand would qualify as a repeat offender as the pesky forward has been suspended three times since the start of the 2014-15 season. As Joe Haggerty of CSN New England notes, his loss would for any length of time would be a significant blow to a Bruins team fighting for their playoff lives. Marchand leads Boston in scoring with 47 points and is second on the club in goals scored with 19, just one fewer than David Pastrnak’s team-leading total.

The incident in question occurred at the 12:27 mark of the first period and it appears Kronwall avoided injury on the play. The veteran Swede would remain in the game and finish with 17:51 of total ice time. He was in just his second game back after missing 2 1/2 weeks with a groin injury

Snapshots: NHL Three Stars, Toews, Bickell, Maple Leafs

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Nicklas Backstrom, Brad Marchand, and Brock McGinn have been named the NHL’s Three Stars of the Week.

Backstrom had three goals and 10 points in four games as the Capitals continued their nine-game winning streak. He has 13 points on that winning streak, and is currently on a six-game point streak. Backstrom is 10th in NHL scoring with 42 points in 43 games.

Marchand had the second-most points in the last week (behind only the aforementioned first star of the week) with 4-4-8 in three games. He had a three-point game in the Bruins’ win over the Blues before being held pointless in a loss to Nashville. He finished off the week with a career-high five-point night in a 6-3 win over Philadelphia. Marchand is seventh in NHL scoring with 43 points in 46 games.

McGinn had seven points in three games as the Hurricanes continued their four-game winning streak. Carolina is now one point out of a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. McGinn has 12 points on the season in 28 games this season, with seven coming in the last week.

  • Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews may want to remember the old Mark Twain quote which says that “reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated.” On his morning appearance on TSN 1260, Bob McKenzie talked about Toews’ struggles and suggested that “a lot of people are writing obituaries on Toews’ career right now,” which McKenzie believes is “real premature.” Toews has 21 points in 37 games this season, which puts him on pace for 41 points in 73 games. That would be a career-low at a time when offensive players ought to be in their prime; even in the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season, Toews scored 48 points in 47 games. Prior to this season, Toews has scored at 0.88 PPG. That’s fallen year-over-year since 12-13, and is now at 0.57. If the Blackhawks want to capitalize on the final year of a cheap Artemi Panarin, they’ll need their captain to kick it into a higher gear.
  • Some very good news out of Carolina on Monday, as veteran winger Bryan Bickell practiced for the second time in the last week, according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. Bickell has not played since the end of October, when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Bickell was acquired by the Hurricanes in the summer in a salary-dump trade from Chicago, where he won three Stanley Cups.
  • Over at Maple Leafs practice, Martin Marincin and Frankie Corrado are both on the ice. Marincin is wearing a red non-contact jersey as he returns to practice one month after suffering an injury that was expected to keep him out of the lineup between 4-6 weeks. Meanwhile, Corrado returns to the NHL after a two-week conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies where he had three assists in seven games. He’s appeared in just one NHL game this season.

Bruins Notes: Marchand, Miller, Miller

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In his 500th NHL game yesterday, Brad Marchand celebrated in style. The pesky 28-year old scored five points (2G, 3A) and continued proving he’s one of the NHLs brightest stars. After setting a career high in goals (37) and points (60) last season, Marchand is on pace to shatter his assist high this year while setting the point mark once again. His 43 points in 46 games rank among the top 10 in the NHL and leads the Bruins by 10.

Remember, Marchand was a third-round pick for the Bruins in 2006 and was thought of as an under-sized bottom six-type player. Instead, he’s turned into one of the most consistent goal scorers in the NHL, racking up at least 20 in every season except the lockout-shortened 2012-13, when he scored 18. With 17 this year and no signs of slowing down, he may post back-to-back 30+ goal seasons and prove that he should eventually be talked about as a Hart trophy candidate.

  • In all the fun that was Marchand’s 500th came some bad news, as Kevan Miller was knocked out by Jakub Voracek during the second period. The defenseman has suffered a concussion and is “in the protocol” according to head coach Claude Julien. In Joe Haggerty’s latest column for CSNNE, he reports that Miller was absent from practice today and will be out indefinitely. Voracek did not receive any supplementary discipline from the league for the hit.
  • The Bruins will be without either Miller, as Colin Miller was also missing from today’s practice due to the lower-body injury that he’s been dealing with. Haggerty reports that Miller did skate on his own before practice however, meaning his return may be on the horizon. Julien seemed unaffected by the news of both Millers, saying “we’ve got some depth at that position. We still have enough guys up here to get through, and hopefully we’ll get some guys back sooner rather than later.” Joe Morrow will likely figure back into the lineup in their absence.

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