Brad Marchand gives most Brad Marchand answer possible when asked about playing future
It’s no secret that the Boston Bruins are going through some significant changes.
A year after the team let Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara walk, Kevan Miller retired from hockey and David Krejci decided to return to the Czech Republic. Free agent goaltender and career-long Bruin Tuukka Rask’s future is unknown after undergoing offseason hip surgery, and team Patrice Bergeron is officially in year-to-year mode.
It’s enough to get you wondering about just about the future of every remaining Bruin over the age of 30. And that includes Brad Marchand.
But the 33-year-old Marchand is nowhere near ready to even think about the end of his on-ice career, and said as much like only he can.
“Until they boot me out of the league,” a smiling Marchand said when asked how long he plans on playing. “Which, with my history, could be tomorrow.”
Self-awareness at 100 and climbing, honestly.
The obvious point is that Marchand is nowhere near retirement.
He’s been relatively healthy throughout his entire career, and has been producing at a Hart-worthy pace, with the fifth-most points in hockey over the last three seasons, as only Nathan MacKinnon (257), Patrick Kane (260), Leon Draisaitl (299), and Connor McDavid (318) have more than Marchand’s 256.
But in addition to his health and top-of-the-game production in recent seasons, Marchand has also gained an extra appreciation for the beauty of playing pro hockey from those who have walked away.
“You talk to a lot of the older guys that have retired and moved on and the feedback is ‘play as long as you can,'” Marchand said. “Once you’re done, it’s not coming back and there’s a long life ahead of you. That’s how I intend to look at it. Maybe I transition as I go from first to second to third to fourth line again. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be a defenseman at one point.
“But hopefully it’s a long time [away].”
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Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.
