Brad Marchand reflects on stressful exit from Bruins

It didn't end well for Brad Marchand and the Boston Bruins.

Before ultimately getting traded to the Florida Panthers ahead of the deadline, Marchand had hoped to reach a deal to stay with in Boston. That never fully materialized, and neither did a successful season for the B's, who had their worst campaign in more than a decade and were left to sell off major pieces.

Marchand admitted in a new press conference ahead of the start of the Stanley Cup Final that he didn't handle the whole process as well as he wanted. He'd never been in such a tough contract negotiation with the Bruins, nor did he ever become such a prominent piece in trade talks. Through dealing with all that, on top of the pressure of his first season as the Bruins' captain, Marchand feels his emotions got the best of him at times.

"It was stressful in a lot of senses," Marchand said. "Some of them were situations I wasn't in before. I wouldn't say I dealt with them great. The business side of it, I let it frustrate me, and then obviously our team wasn't having success as we expected. We were having a hard time getting back on track, and eventually we did, we thought we were climbing back into a playoff position, and we just fell apart.

There were different hurdles that continued to get frustrating and stressful throughout the year, but that's part of the game and you've got to find ways to deal with it. I wish I had done a better job at times, but it's something I can learn from."

^{Brad Marchand}

All things considered, Marchand had few better potential landing spots, if any, than Florida. He's settled in as a third-line wing and has scored five goals and 15 points in 18 games, including a power play goal in Game 1 of the Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Panthers are down 1-0 in the series after the Oilers won Game 1 in overtime, but that kind of adversity is nothing new for the defending Stanley Cup champions, or is it anything new for Marchand. The former B's captain seems like a lot of weight has been lifted off him. And he should have enough strength to hoist the Stanley Cup later this month, if the Panthers can close the deal on a repeat.