Brad Marchand Confused By Calls For Bruins To ‘Fall Off’

There are plenty of opinions regarding the Boston Bruins following a busy offseason, but they aren’t interested in listening.

Boston has been the subject of negative prognostications entering the 2023-24 season. The Bruins saw both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retire over the summer, with a mass exodus of talent causing many to believe they’ll experience an intense decline.

That doesn’t make very much sense to the Bruins, however, as they are confident they can compete for a Stanley Cup.

“I don’t know how people look at the depth on our team and say that we’re going to fall off the radar,” Brad Marchand told Greg Wyshynski of ESPN. “There’s a great opportunity for everyone here to do something bigger and build something new and continue the legacy that those guys built.”

Marchand will be at the forefront of Boston’s bounce-back attempt. The 35-year-old was tabbed as Bergeron’s replacement as Bruins captain, after all. He’ll lead a team that likely isn’t going to continue to break any records, but still still is capable of winning.

David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk, Pavel Zacha and Trent Frederic all set career-best marks in goals last season and will return with even larger roles.

No, Bergeron and Krejci can’t be replaced, but the Bruins aren’t a bad hockey club.

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“Again, I don’t understand how people look at us and say, ‘You’ll fall off.’ Yes, we’re losing the best two-way player to ever play the game — 100%,” Marchand told Wyshynski. “Krejci is probably the most poised player I’ve ever played with. They’re both incredible leaders, but every year when guys leave, it creates the opportunity for someone else to step up and further their career.”

Those increased opportunities are at the forefront of Boston’s training camp strategy and should help the Bruins continue to have one of the deeper talent pools in the Atlantic Division.

The goal isn’t to break regular season records, the Bruins have done that, they just need a ticket to the dance. As they saw last season, that’s all it takes.