Bruins Captain Brad Marchand Had This Advice For Rookies

BOSTON — Brad Marchand spent the majority of the offseason talking about the lessons he learned from Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

Neither Bergeron nor Krejci are inside the Boston Bruins dressing room anymore, of course. So if Marchand wants younger players to have that same experience, Boston’s newest captain will need to provide the advice himself.

That’s exactly what Marchand has tried to do. While speaking with NESN.com after Bruins practice at TD Garden on Monday, just a few hours before Boston’s roster was finalized, the veteran forward stressed one of the most important aspects of the job: consistency.

“That’s part of being a day-to-day NHL player to begin with. If you want to play in this league, especially for a team like this, you have to be consistent every single day,” Marchand told NESN.com. “And that’s something we talked about a lot. It’s one thing to want to play in the league, but the expectations here are to be a contending team every year. And to do that we have a high standard.

“It’s something you got to learn pretty quick. It’s not often that spots come up and are left available for young guys, and if you want to take one of them, you got to be up to play every night.”

Marchand noted it was a topic of conversation during the preseason and general manager Don Sweeney noted the importance himself Monday.

Marchand acknowledged how the grind for these newcomers will be much different than that of college hockey or juniors. It takes a lot in order to maintain that level of consistency, he said.

“I think it’s preparation. The way you take care of yourself on and off the ice, the way you train, eat, sleep,” Marchand added. “The way you work on your recovery. The way you focus on details. All of that stuff comes into play. And it’s just figuring out, at a young age, how to do all that stuff.

“It’s a lot different than junior and college, the way that you have to manage the travel and being by yourself all the time and eating the right way. So it’s just getting in the habit of it and creating that habit every day. And guys we be fine.”

Those guys presumably are rookie centers Matthew Poitras and John Beecher. The 19-year-old Poitras, a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, is expected to pivot the third line while the 22-year-old Beecher is figured to play on the fourth line with veteran Milan Lucic. Some two hours before the 5 p.m. ET deadline, 22-year-old defenseman Mason Lohrei also was in the mix for a roster spot.

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy believes all three players deserve to be in Boston. Especially after McAvoy, like Marchand, saw the heightened level of competitiveness the younger players brought this preseason.

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“That’s the great thing about camp is you hope you have guys that are pushing to make the team,” Marchand told NESN.com. “I mean when that happens, it makes our whole group better. It’s gonna make us more competitive, it brings the inner competition level even higher and pushes all to be better knowing that guys are gunning for our jobs.

“So, you want to see young guys take those steps to continue to push to make this team. And it’s great that they are.”

Of course, if Lohrei or any others don’t make Boston’s group ahead of the season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday, that doesn’t mean they won’t soon join the Black and Gold. Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery already said Lohrei, specifically, is going to be a big part of the future.