PLYMOUTH, Mass. — It might be a few more months until Brad Marchand is cleared for game action once again, but the 34-year-old winger is already poised to take the first steps back from an extensive recovery from offseason hip surgery — with the B’s top left wing slated to skate for the first time since May on Friday morning at Warrior Ice Arena.
Ahead of a pivotal 2022-23 campaign for the Bruins, Marchand spoke with reporters about a number of topics during Thursday’s Boston Bruins Foundation Golf Tournament at Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth — including his lengthy rehab, the state of the franchise and Boston’s coaching change.
A long road ahead
During Marchand’s last meeting with the media back in May, he hinted at the need for some offseason work to help solve the extensive list of injuries he logged during his latest 82-game campaign. But when the team finally announced in late May that Marchand was set to undergo surgery on BOTH of his hips (leading to a six-month recovery timeline), it came as a bit of a shock, especially considering that the B’s star forward was all but guaranteed to miss time in 2022-23.
Even though Marchand noted back in January 2021 that he felt significantly better after undergoing sports hernia surgery to correct nagging issues that had bothered him for more than two years — recurring hip issues forecasted future hurdles that would only be able to be corrected via major surgery.
Had the Bruins managed to overcome the Hurricanes in Game 7 of their first-round series this year, Marchand acknowledged that he probably would have postponed the inevitable procedure for further down the road. But with the team off since mid-May, Marchand opted to finally bite the bullet.
“It's been a few years,' Marchand said of his hip issues. "It was kind of masked a little bit with my groin and my ab surgery. So when I got that done, I still had issues all over the place and there was a hip issue that they realized had a little more to it. And then it was more just about trying to figure out when we were gonna do it. But to me, it was more — what it came down to is trying to get as many years of my body as I could. And to do that, I had to do it sooner than later.
“So yeah, that's why we did it this year. And we finished earlier than we thought we were going to. So I thought we were going to make a further run last year. So I didn't plan on doing it and then when it finished early, I really figured it was a good time and camp starts a little bit later this year as well. It made sense to do it."
While Marchand is slated to get back on the ice Friday, he noted that he isn’t expecting to return to game action until around Thanksgiving — which would fall in line with his sixth-month recovery timetable.
A player with Marchand’s competitive fire would appear to be the perfect candidate to challenge that sixth-month timeline, but Marchand himself is preaching patience when it comes to his rehab — especially when it comes to shaking off the rust with his skating.
Even though Marchand is no stranger to offseason procedures, this past summer was a different animal, especially given the number of weeks he spent on the shelf.
“I was on crutches for 2 weeks, 2 1/2 weeks,” Marchand said. “But I was pretty good to like walk around. Just couldn't do anything other than that — it was just a pretty slow couple of months. And then it was like after six weeks, I could start doing a little bit of rehab.
“And then after two months, a little bit more. Three months, I could start lightly training my upper body. Now, I'm starting to ramp it up. … It's like pretty much learning how to skate again. So it's gonna be really light for the first little while. Hopefully, progress each week. Hopefully, get back to feeling good."
For as daunting as rehab from hip surgery might be, it doesn’t necessarily signal the beginning of the end for a player’s career — at least not in the same vein as something like an Achilles tear in basketball or cartilage replacement surgery.
Still, Marchand is going to have his work cut out for him in the next few months as the B’s look to stay afloat without their on-ice sparkplug.
Marchand talks coaching change
Even though Marchand hasn’t had much of anything in terms of on-ice reps with Boston’s new bench boss in Jim Montgomery, he’s heard nothing but positive reviews about his new coach.
"Very positive, really outgoing and personable,” Marchand said of Montgomery. “Looking forward to it — I haven't seen him on the ice yet. And that's kind of where things matter in the room and on the ice. Every coach, for the most part, is pretty good one-on-one and in the room and stuff. So I'm looking forward to seeing him in action. But from what I've heard from guys that have played with him, or played for him and played under him, there is nothing but great things to say. So yeah, looking forward to getting out there with him.”
Of course, even with the potential spark that could come from having a new voice in the room, Marchand still expressed that Bruce Cassidy’s firing was more of a result of the end result on the ice — which primarily falls on the players.
"I mean, anytime — it's not something you ever want to see,” Marchand said of Cassidy’s firing. “You always kind of take blame personally. You feel like you could have done more, especially as a leader, to help out and get the message across that he's trying to push or whatever. But in hockey at times, sometimes it's just about a change. And he's been here, he was here for a long time. And sometimes it's just good to get a new voice and kind of switch it up. Especially like the newer generation players are a little bit different and sometimes you need a little softer voice. So again, that's part of it all. And unfortunately, we're all gonna go through that at some point where there's going to be a change or your time's up. But it's never fun to see."
Staying afloat
Of course, even if Marchand is still hopeful that he’ll be back at full strength by the end of November, the Bruins are still going to have to tread water in the early going without their best winger available.
But with both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci back in the fold, Marchand isn’t doubting Boston’s ability to remain in the playoff picture in the early going.
"I think we're in a good spot as a team,” Marchand said. “So I think the toughest thing would be, if the team wasn't winning or doing well, then that would be really crappy. But I don't think that's gonna be the case. I think we're gonna have a really good start.
“The guys look really good right now. So I'm hoping that they put a really good push on. And that's typical, the way we look at it — if you're in a playoff position by like Thanksgiving, typically, you can hold that throughout the year. Obviously, there are changes that happen. ... But again, it's about the long game. And hopefully, I'll feel good for the rest of the year and make a push at the end.”
As for his advice for Pavel Zacha, who will likely temporarily slot in for Marchand on Boston’s top line next to Bergeron?
“Just get open,” Marchand said with a laugh. “And you don’t have to backcheck. He’ll do that for you.”
Remaining mum on Pastrnak
Of course, the Bruins might be focusing on making the most of this current contention window in 2022-23 — but David Pastrnak and his pending free agency remains as a lingering storyline that Boston hopes to resolve at some point this fall.
Given that Marchand’s current contract runs through 2025, it’s to be expected that he would personally vouch for Pastrnak to ink an eight-year extension with the Bruins. But as far as offering his input into Pastrnak’s contract negotiations, Marchand pledged to not get involved.
"That's something that — it's a hard thing to talk about, I think,” Marchand said of talking with Pastrnak about a new contract. “Not just us, but with him as well. Because if, whatever way he's leaning, even if he's potentially looking at moving on, that's not something he wants to talk about. If he's gonna sign, then it's gonna get done. We're not worried about it. The team clearly wants to get it done and has been very vocal about that.
“It's something we want to happen, but we don't need to add pressure on him to talk about it in the room. If he wants to, he'll bring it up. That's kind of how you leave it — if he wants to bring it up, we're happy to talk about it. If not, then you kind of give him his space. We all have to go through it. And they're stressful times. So you don't need guys adding to that stress level. Especially with him where we just need him to play and score goals for us. So we don't need to throw him off with that at all.”