Bruins Future Stars: Brad Marchand

By Greg in Bruins ⋅ December 1, 2009 at 1:00pm ⋅ Post a comment

Brad Marchand has been given multiple chances to prove himself thus far this season, actually 12 to be exact. Marchand has played in 12 games for the Boston Bruins this season, posting one assist, a -1 rating and 18 penalty minutes.

Before being selected by the Bruins in the 2006 Entry Draft in the 3rd Round (71st overall), Marchand played a lot of junior hockey in Canada and was very successful. He was selected 24th overall by the Moncton Wildcats in 2004 and in just two short years he was major contributor for the Wildcats Memorial Cup team. After his season with Moncton in 2006, he was traded to the Val d’Or Foreurs.

In his first season with the Val d’Or Foreurs, he put up big numbers by finishing with 80 points off of 33 goals and 47 assists in only 57 games.

Marchand also won a gold medal with Team Canada in the 2007 U20 World Junior competition. He posted two goals in six games in the competition.

After starting off his second season with Val d’Or in 2007 Marchand was named the QMJHL offensive player of the week in December but was traded later in the season to the Halifax Mooseheads. The 21-year-old had 44 points (21 goals, 23 assists) in 33 games with Val d’Or and then 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 26 games. After that season he once againt participated for Team Canada in the U20 World Junior competition in which he had four goals and two assists in seven games.

Last year the center played an entire season with the Providence Bruins. Manchard scored 18 goals and had 41 assists while racking up 67 penalty minutes in 79 games. He posted 15 points in last year’s AHL playoffs with seven goals and eight assists. He also had 26 penalty minutes in those 16 games while scoring one game-winning goal.

Although he has worked his way up from the minors, the 5-foot-9 forward is still believed to be a little too small for the NHL. At well under six feet and weighing around 185 pounds, he is quick enough and rough enough to make an impact for Boston sometime in the future. With the Bruins getting a lot healthier it’s hard to see him on the ice rather than on the bench, or even back in Providence.

Tags: Brad Marchand, Bruins