Bruins star appears to take a shot at the Leafs' core for squeezing Dubas for every dollar
Probably the biggest piece of criticism that the Toronto Maple Leafs have faced over the last few years has been their lack of success with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, and John Tavares. The narrative has always been their cap management with the 4 forwards amassing $40.5 million, which is almost half of the team's salary cap.
In the modern NHL, contending teams have had to acclimate to the growing market of their superstars, while trying to find the right balance of depth pieces around them. Some teams have been lucky in the sense that they don't have any egregious contracts like the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Boston Bruins. For reference, the Lightning don't have anyone over $9.5 million but they also have the luxury of no state taxes.
Ahead of their matchup tonight, Brad Marchand, decided to rub salt in the wounds, appearing to dig at the Leafs ahead of their matchup tonight by saying that his teammates understand the notion of winning and success comes at a discounted price, which some teams (i.e. the Maple Leafs) haven't seemed to replicate. To his credit, he is not wrong.
Outside of Charlie McAvoy ($9.5 million), no one on the Bruins is making over $6.66 million. David Pastrnak is due for a raise this summer but he's currently at $6.66 million, Marchand has 2 years left at $6.125 million, Taylor Hall has 2 years left at $6 million, Patrice Bergeron signed a discounted contract last summer for only $2 million, and Hampus Lindholm has 7 years left at $6.5 million - which comes to $36.785 million for 6 key players.
Very few people gave the Bruins a fighting chance this summer with their "old" roster and the fact that several keys players were going to miss time to start the season like McAvoy, Marchand, and Matt Grzelcyk. However that didn't seem to faze them in the slightest as they have dominated from start to finish with a ridiculous 38-7-5 record, sitting 11 points up in the Atlantic Division and 7 points in the Eastern Conference and the NHL as a whole.
The Bruins haven't won the cup since 2011. They lost in the finals in 2013 and 2019 and have advanced past the first round 3 more times (2017-18, 2019-20, and 2020-21). So even though they haven't hoisted hockey's Holy Grail since 2010-11, they've always been around, coming close a few times, and defeating the Maple Leafs multiple times along the way.
Marchand was just doing what he does best and that's being brutally honest while also trying to get into the head's of his opponents. The Bruins have been a well-respected organization for quite some time and they have always found a way to keep their star players happy, while also getting them at low and discounted costs.
