The Bruins-Brad Marchand fallout is beginning to sound pretty ugly

Despite their publicly-stated desires, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney and Brad Marchand could not come to terms on an extension ahead of the Friday trade deadline. That impasse (obviously) led to the shocking decision to trade Marchand to the rival Panthers, and as the details continue to trickle out, it's beginning to look like an impasse and fallout that ended in pretty ugly fashion for the sides.

Speaking on Sportnet's Saturday Headlines, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman shed light on just exactly what went down between the Bruins and Marchand in their final days, and painted a picture of a team who drew a line in the sand with a captain who never wanted to truly leave town.

"Where I think this really went sideways was there was a point this week where Brad Marchand, who was currently injured and not in the lineup, asked for a face-to-face meeting with Bruins management. I don’t know exactly when it was, I don’t know exactly who was there, but it did happen," Friedman revealed. "And in that meeting, Brad Marchand asked for a compromise. He said, ‘I will compromise. I will bend on some of my ask. I’m asking the Bruins to bend on some of their stance and we’ll find a way to get this deal done’ because he wanted to stay as a Bruin.

"And it just didn’t happen [and] the Bruins went as far as they were willing to go."

In essence, the Bruins had their own number and it was more than firm even after a face-to-face meeting, which sounded like an event and happening that completely disintegrated any positive traction.

“I think he was really stung by that and then all of a sudden, the Bruins started to look [at their trade options]," Friedman, who noted that the B's and Marchand had previously bridged the gap on term, said. "I think one of the things that really happened in the last 24 to 48 hours before the deadline was that Marchand’s agent, Wade Arnott, made it very clear that Marchand had a place he wanted to go and obviously that was Florida, and then the last minute the Bruins acquiesced and made the deal.

"I think it really hurt Marchand that the face-to-face meeting couldn’t get a deal done.”

Marchand is not the first Bruin to go through a frustrating and borderline demoralizing negotiation with Sweeney and the Bruins in recent history. He joins a list that already featured Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, and most recently Jake DeBrusk. But unlike those three, the Bruins decided to trade Marchand rather than let him walk for nothing an unrestricted free agent, and Friedman's note that Marchand's camp made it clear that he wanted to go to Florida is an interesting twist thrown into this one.

Was Marchand's desire to go to Florida rooted in trying to call the Bruins' bluff and essentially challenge them to trade him to their rival rather than make a compromise? And is that why the Bruins had to settle for the return of a conditional second-round pick and nothing more? Even before all of this came out, I has asked Sweeney on Friday if Marchand had requested Florida over other potential suitors.

"No, I worked off... Brad [and] his representatives have known that there were teams that were interested [and] we worked off of his trade restrictions," Sweeney told me. "And we had some conversations right at the very end in terms of what may be his preference, but not necessarily a specific location. And ultimately, we made a decision for him to be in the [East] and on a really good team.” 

The added context provided by Friedman also makes me look at a separate answer Sweeney gave me on Friday a little differently when I asked if he viewed the door between the B's and Marchand, who could come back to the Bruins if he hits free agency this summer, as completely closed.

“I mean, that's probably a better question for Brad at this point in time [with] the emotions he's going through," Sweeney, whose team will remain captain-less for the remainder of the season, told me. "We've been trying to sign Brad all year long. We just had a gap there, and I respect that, you know where he believes his market value is, and I hope he respects our position, because he's beloved here.

"I would never close the door.” 

But have the actions leading up to the trade may have closed the door for him?