Bruins GM Sweeney Reveals Latest on Brad Marchand & Other FA Extension Talks

The subject of the future of Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand has come up on numerous occasions this season. Trade rumors have even surfaced. The 36-year-old is a pending UFA, as his eight-year contract is coming to an end. Thus far, talks on an extension haven't seemed to get very far.

But according to Bruins GM Don Sweeney, that should change shortly.

Don Sweeney said that his camp and Marchand's camp are getting back to contract extension talks with the potential for a deal to get done before the trade deadline.

He also said it's unlikely the other UFAs will have extensions done before the deadline.
— Bridgette Proulx (@bridgetteproulx) February 23, 2025

When told that Marchand has said he'd like to be a Bruin for life, Sweeney responded as follows:

That's always been my ultimate goal... We will have a conversation with Brad now that the 4 Nations is over, sit down with his representatives and have a clear path in the next two weeks as to what his outcome will be.

"In the next two weeks" is the key phrase there, as that's also exactly when the trade deadline hits, in two weeks. So although it sounds like both sides want to get a deal done to keep Marchand in Beantown, Sweeney is still keeping his options open, just in case the unexpected happens.

Meanwhile, the GM also seemed to indicate that they are unlikely to have time "to move forward with things" to get any other potential extensions worked out for the team's other pending free agents. That list would include UFAs Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau, Riley Tufte, Cole Koepke, and Parker Wotherspoon, and RFAs Morgan Geekie, Oliver Wahlstrom, John Beecher, Michael Callahan and Mason Lohrei.