The Bruins are the best team in the NHL with a 43-8-5 record and are seven points clear of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Boston, understandably, is the favorite to win the Stanley Cup and is on its way to breaking the regular-season win record of 62 held by the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning and 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings. The Presidents’ Trophy is the Bruins’ to lose (Boston is a -750 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook) but winning it doesn’t mean much to the team.
“People have talked a lot about some of these records, that we could potentially hit or we have hit. Nobody cares about those in this room,” Brad Marchand told ESPN in a column posted Wednesday. “We could care less about any of these regular-season records. Because they really don’t mean anything,
” … Before we were going through this season, if you asked any of the guys on this team who owned any of those records, nobody would know, because nobody cares. Because it’s not about the regular season. As soon as somebody brings it up, it’s in one ear and out the other.”
The last time the B’s won the trophy awarded to the team with the most regular season wins was 2020 and they were bounced from the playoff contention in the second round by the New York Islanders.
“If you win the Presidents’ Trophy but you don’t win the Cup, nobody cares,” Marchand told ESPN. “That’s what we know on this team.”
Marchand is right: It’s not about what happens in the regular season. As strong as the Bruins have been this year, they clearly won’t be satisfied if the ultimate goal isn’t met. They’re the team to beat in the NHL right now, but they have to be that same team once the playoffs roll around in April.
Marchand and the rest of the Bruins will look to continue their winning ways Thursday night when they take on the Seattle Kraken. Puck drop from Climate Pledge Arena is set for 10 p.m. ET.
