The Boston Bruins have had a lot of issues this season, having already gone through a coaching change and now finding themselves teetering on the Eastern Conference playoff bubble.
Another potential issue surfaced on Friday when a report from WEEI’s Rich Keefe suggested that there was a major issue in the Bruins locker room between star forwards David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, with Pastrnak — according to the report — no longer wanting to play on a line with Marchand.
Marchand wasted no time in firing back when asked about the report and emphatically denied any rift between the two stars.
He also had extremely harsh words for Keefe in an extended rant about his credibility and trustworthiness as a reporter.
“I know reporters have a job to do and that job is to report on the team,” Marchand said. “Usually, you try to be fact-based. But when there’s just blatant lies told in the media, that’s where there’s a problem. The fact this guy has a platform and is just making this up is embarrassing. There’s zero truth to anything he said. This is how you lose a job very quickly. The fact that he’s gonna have a job after this is insane.”
Marchand went on to say that Pastrnak is one of the most beloved players in the locker room and that there is zero truth to him being a problem.
He finished by saying this:
“It’s very frustrating because this is what happens — we have not pulled our weight this year,” Marchand continued. “We have not had the season we want to have. But I’m not gonna let some random guy come in the media and spit absolute nonsense. From this point forward, this guy has zero credibility.”
That is about as emphatic as a dismissal as you can get from a player regarding some sort of locker room turmoil.
This all comes a day after the Bruins were on the losing end of a 4-1 decision against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night to extend their losing streak to six consecutive games. They have also lost seven of their past eight games and find themselves in the bottom half of the league standings. Their overall points percentage is 22nd in the NHL and even though they are holding a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, that is mostly because they have played more games than most of the other teams they are competing with. By points percentage there would currently be four teams ahead of them for a playoff spot.
Pastrnak and Marchand do not always play on the same line but have spent extensive time alongside one another over the past six years. When they have played together they are typically one of the most productive duos in the league, as both have top-line offensive skills and Marchand plays a great two-way game.
They have not been as good this season as a duo or individually. But nobody in Boston has played up to expectations this season. When the team struggles, that is when rumors and speculation start.
Whether there actually is some sort of issue within the locker room is secondary to the fact the team just is not as good as it used to be. They never adequately replaced top centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci following their retirements, they do not score enough goals as a team, and starting goalie Jeremy Swayman has not played up to expectations (or his contract) in his first year as a full-time starter. Those are significantly bigger issues the Bruins need to worry about fixing.
