In a shocking turn of events, the Boston Bruins traded Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers just before the trade deadline. This ended years of association between the Bruins and Marchand, with the two winning the 2011 Stanley Cup title. At 36, Marchand was past his prime and the Bruins felt that the time had come to let go of one of their legendary players. Amid a new beginning for the Bruins, their head coach, Joe Sacco got candid on his team’s chances of making it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After suffering three straight defeats, the Bruins got back in style as they won back-to-back matches, first against the Lightning and next against the Panthers. Yesterday’s win over the Panthers was a thrilling one against their former player, Marchand. However, the latter was injured and appeared just in the practice session.

After the game, Sacco appeared in an interview where he got honest about his team’s chances to progress further: “I think just like you said getting organized, getting them up to speed with how we want to play you know don’t want to overload them with too much information right away.”

Further, he went on to add, “I think when you do that the players stop skating, they get a little bit paralyzed so we’re trying to just do it day by day um break it down so that we’re not giving them like I said uh too much at once but other than that just let them play hockey we want to see what they can do.”

With two back-to-back wins, the Bruins are slowly and steadily moving up the table. They have risen a place from the bottom of the Atlantic Division and still have a long way to go before one can consider them for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nonetheless, Sacco was optimistic about his team’s chances and vowed to keep the good form going.

Meanwhile, Marchand’s trade to the Panthers has not only left him sad but also others in the NHL world. During an interview, a renowned hockey reporter exposed the saddening brutality of Marchand’s trade.

Hockey reporter finds Brad Marchand’s trade hard to process

Having joined the Bruins in 2009, Marchand was an inseparable part of their team for years. However, this season hasn’t gone according to his plans. Marchand has scored just 21 goals and 26 assists in the 2024-25 season, a very poor record for a player of his caliber. Additionally, with Marchand turning 36, the Bruins decided to trade him to the Panthers, although he didn’t want the move. As a result, hockey reporter, Kasey Hudson expressed shock on this move.

She said, “Imagine being entrusted with following up a guy like Patrice Bergeron and wearing the C on your chest. When you get rewarded that kind of responsibility, I would almost assume a part of you feels safe to stay with this organization. ou know what I mean? Like when you follow up greatness, it almost tells you you’re safe. So I think that that’s another level of like, I don’t want to call it blindside because obviously, you know, Brad Marchand has said his part and Don Sweeney has said his part, but it’s just like, it just kind of adds to the blindside of the trade.”

While Marchand remains sidelined due to his injury, the Bruins would look to keep the winning momentum going. Can they reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year? Let us know your views in the comments below.