Brad Marchand, Bruins Agree on New Contract: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

Brad Marchand has agreed to an eight-year, $49 million contract extension with the Boston Bruins, according to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com and Bob McKenzie of TSN. 

Marchand, 28, scored 37 goals and added 24 assists in 77 games last season. It was his first season of 30 or more goals and the fifth time in the past six years he's exceeded 20 goals.

Marchand's scoring isn't his only valuable quality, however, as the winger is scrappy and antagonistic, pestering the opposition while winning the puck back for his team. His effort and energy are apparent every night.

Sidney Crosby, who has been playing on a line with Marchand and Patrice Bergeron for Team Canada during the World Cup of Hockey, had high praise for the winger, per Josh Cooper of Yahoo Sports:

"

I think the way he works on both sides of the puck. I think all three of us work hard to gain possession to create turnovers. He does that really well. He’s got a great shot. He’s got speed, a lot of different things. But I think just the way he competes every shift you know that he’s able to generate a lot sometimes from nothing.

"

Locking up Marchand to a long-term extension before he hit free agency next summer was the Bruins' top remaining offseason priority. They now have a strong core of players locked up for the foreseeable future, including David Krejci and Tuukka Rask through 2021 and Bergeron through 2022.

Marchand took a discount to remain with the Bruins. On the open market, he likely would have earned a much bigger paycheck. But the Bruins have gotten solid deals on a couple of their stars, as Nicholas W. Goss of NESN noted:

Of course, those values won't matter if they don't translate to a return to the playoffs after the Bruins failed to reach the postseason the past two years. But the team's core of talented players means Boston's absence from the postseason should come to a close.

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