It was just last season that Brad Marchand was one of three players to amass at least 30 goals for the Boston Bruins.
There was no reason to think the veteran winger would slow down heading into the 2018-19 campaign, but anything can happen in sports.
Marchand still is part of Boston’s illustrious top line that includes David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron. But through the team’s first 13 games, No. 63 has found the back of the net just four times. He does have 11 assists, but his goal production certainly has slowed down.
With Pastrnak’s 11 goals and Bergeron’s seven, it’s easy to overlook the lack of goals Marchand has put together thus far. He’s not shooting nearly as much as he has in past seasons, but if you ask head coach Bruce Cassidy, it comes down to his first-line winger giving his teammates more opportunities than he’s giving himself.
“Hopefully he finds the right balance. He knows Pasta’s hot and Bergy’s hot right now, so he figures he’s going to be the playmaker on the line for a while,” Cassidy said, via the Boston Herald’s Marisa Ingemi. “Between those three, that could change all year every three weeks, who does the passing and who does the scoring, because they can all do both.”
The top line has combined for 22 goals and 28 assists. And as Cassidy stated, the trio all are capable of shooting and passing, so it’s not a really a question of if Marchand will drive pucks to the net more, it’s a matter of when.
