The Hurricanes need to go after Brad Marchand

He’s the type of player the Canes have been trying to sign for years

Tony D’Angelo. Brendan Lemieux. Michael Bunting.

It’s been pretty clear the last few years that the Hurricanes realized that there was a type of player that was missing on its team of mostly nice guys. They were missing an agitator. Someone who will get under the skin of the opposition, force them into mistakes, and then pounce quickly to make them pay. Each one of those prior signings ended poorly for the Canes as they either were quickly dispatched to another team or they had some sort of hole in their game that the rest of the squad couldn’t make up for.

In this critical offseason for the Hurricanes, there’s another one of these players that should hit the market and it’s the best one they’ve had an opportunity to snag during this run. Former Boston Bruin, Stanley Cup Champion, and all around muck-raker Brad Marchand.

“Hell no!” I can already see you screaming when you see that name. You’re very quickly thinking about how he insulted the Canes back during the Vincent Trocheck days, and you have rough memories of consistently losing to him in his various incarnations with the Bruins and this year with the Panthers. “He’s a” insert your favorite word here “and I don’t want to cheer for a player that has that type of personality! Plus he made fun of us!”

Folks, that’s exactly the type of player the Canes need.

Take one step back and let’s talk about just the type of game Marchand plays. He’s shown a team-first mentality this with his trade to the Panthers in order to compete for the Cup this year. Someone who was THE man in Boston is willingly playing third line minutes for the Panthers, and cracked about being able to make the lineup after his trade. He’s only been shut out of a goal in one game of the Cup Final so far, and continues to crack jokes throughout.

Yes he took another shot at the Canes with the “Blizzards are better than Hurricanes” bit. Come on, you have to admit that was actually funny.

His play alone is the type that you would want on the team just because at 37, he’s shown he still has the skill to play on a bottom six and knock another team around. On road matchups when teams will try to move their best lineup away from the Staal line it’ll give them pause knowing that a less-skilled line will have to face one with Marchand on the wing. Not exactly a great decision.

But let’s talk about the locker room. The Hurricanes currently have three players that you could argue one in way or another are in the Marchand mold: Jackson Blake, Logan Stankoven, and Seth Jarvis. Do I need to remind you about how he feels about Seth?

When you take a small step back and look at the style and personality of both Jarvis and Marchand it makes sense why Marchand would have been thrilled to play with Jarvis. Jarvis has the same joking personality, the same chip on his shoulder for being an undersized player to go all out, and the same level of skill to breakout to the next level of the NHL. Marchand’s admission probably was a huge reason why Amazon Prime is following Jarvis around after the 4 Nations.

Wouldn’t it be great from a practice standpoint for Jarvis as well as Blake and Stankoven to see how someone of Marchand’s size and skillset navigates playing in the NHL? You can study tape but there’s no substitution for being there in person.

You also don’t have to worry about Marchand fitting into the Rod Brind’Amour system. Florida plays the same way and he’s taken too it without any problems. Speaking of Brind’Amour, he would probably welcome someone of Marchand’s personality inside the locker room—and know that even if he wouldn’t wear a letter on his chest, his resume speaks for itself to where if he pipes up in the locker room, the rest of the room will listen. He’s clearly not looking to be in a place where he has to wear a letter now.

Finally, from a spotlight standpoint Marchand is what the Hurricanes need. What wasn’t discussed in the “boring” talk during the playoffs was the hidden meaning—The Canes don’t have anyone that has resonated outside of the Raleigh area. Jarvis is in the process of fixing that, but adding someone like Marchand to the mix would give the area a jolt. He’s a name hockey media and casual fans know, he’s a hell of an interview which would take pressure off a lot of the more media-shy players, and even if the style of play in Raleigh is the exact same—having someone like Marchand on the ice all of a sudden doesn’t make them “boring.”

So yes, there are other free agents and players the Canes should be pursing this offseason. But I’m begging any member of the front office that might read this—go after Marchand. The move just makes too much sense.