Brad Marchand 28 to 30 Years Old

[genk]

After Marchand's 100 points this season, I'm only now realizing that he didn't have his first PPG season until he turned 28, and his 29 and 30 year old seasons have been even better. I don't get it. Has he always been this good, but not provided the opportunity? What's happened in these last few years to push him to his recent point totals?

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[Ace Card Bedard]

After Marchand's 100 points this season, I'm only now realizing that he didn't have his first PPG season until he turned 28, and his 29 and 30 year old seasons have been even better. I don't get it. Has he always been this good, but not provided the opportunity? What's happened in these last few years to push him to his recent point totals?

Pastrnak happened.

 

[izzy]

confidence, bergeron, pastrnak, playing less ratty, game is getting easier for small skilled players to kill it

 

[Golden Puppers]

Powerplay time is what happened. He was always a good contributor at Even Strength`

 

[Regal]

I think it's a combination of him getting better, adding Pasta to the line, Cassidy playing a more offensive system with that line in particular playing less defensive minutes, and more PP time/opportunity.

 

[Agent Zub]

It was all about his confidence. He started realizing he could be the best player on the ice.

Great player and still underrated.

 

[King Mapes]

Him and Bergeron are insane together.

Bergeron is havin a career year at age 33-34 and last year was his second best season (This one is first obviously..) in PPG. He had 63 points in 64 games.

 

[greasysnapper]

Training and rule changes.

Also contrary to HFboards, players can and do have great seasons after their mid-twenties. Last season 7/10 of the top scorers were in their 30's.

 

[Btown]

All good points, I’d like to throw out there team chemistry. He is a vocal person and his comfort level has grown every year allowing him to play his game and gain chemistry with all his teammates. You can tell he’s having fun and enjoying playing. Cassidy was a huge help allowing more offence and creativity. He’s great on the PP and he didn’t get much PP minutes with Julian.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Also coincides with his licking.
No one has mentioned it yet but that's where he gets his powers from. It's kinda like Rogue from X-men where she can extract powers from her enemies just by touching their skin.

 

[Regal]

Training and rule changes.

Also contrary to HFboards, players can and do have great seasons after their mid-twenties. Last season 7/10 of the top scorers were in their 30's.

Players can have great seasons in their 30s, but it's pretty rare for a player to reach a completely new level of scoring in his late 20s/early 30s

 

[Staniowski]

There's nothing new about Marchand's quality of play. His point totals are higher the past 3 seasons mostly because of usage - PP time and increased ES time too.

If you compare him to his fellow LW, Ovechkin, it's very clear how good Marchand has been. Marchand has been a significantly better overall scorer than Ovechkin in each of the last 3 seasons (considering that Marchand missed 14 games last season). And in the 5 seasons prior to that ('11-'12 to'15-'16) Marchand was a better scorer at even-strength than Ovechkin in 4 of the 5 seasons. He just didn't have the same opportunity on the PP that Ovechkin did.

Marchand was a dynamo at the 2016 World Cup and he should have been on Team Canada at the 2014 Olympics too.

 

[BruinsBtn]

Julien got fired is a big part of what happened.

Marchand didnt see the PP for his first 5 seasons.

Him and Bergeron had tough, tough defensive matchups and starts too.

 

[Trap Jesus]

Cassidy is actually using them as a first line instead of giving the Krejci line the most minutes and having the Bergeron line handle all the heavy lifting. Even when they had Seguin on the wing, a lot of the offense came through the counterattack rather than having that line being put out in the best offensive situations to let them dictate the play. For the longest time Julien never used to use him on the PP and now he's become one of the focal points of the PP.

He's definitely gotten better as a player though. He's always had a lot of talent and was a really efficient scorer, but his passing has gotten a lot better and his edgework and puck protection has also gotten a lot better. He's a player that for years used to go on stretches of dominant play and then long stretches of nothing when he wasn't playing with confidence, but he's become WAY more consistent now. He also had that big breakout year in 2015/16 when he put up 37 goals, and that was under Julien. The point totals overall just weren't there yet.

 

[Mikeshane]

Intangibles.

 

[greasysnapper]

Players can have great seasons in their 30s, but it's pretty rare for a player to reach a completely new level of scoring in his late 20s/early 30s

Lidstrom didn't start winning Norris' until he was 31.

Naslund broke out from a 60 point player when he was 28, and had 104 points as a 30 year old.

Tim Thomas, Brent Burns, Giordano, Chara, Kopitar, Wheeler, there's lots of players that have taken their careers to new heights after their mid-twenties. You can even start digging deep with guys like Bucyk if you look in the deep past.

It happens. People on Hfboards just have old people blinders on.

 

[SI90]

His prime. He developed and built on every season and now he has the knowledge of the game to go along with his skill and talent. He’s still in good shape so it’s all coming together.

 

[Lolonegoal]

Players can have great seasons in their 30s, but it's pretty rare for a player to reach a completely new level of scoring in his late 20s/early 30s

Sedins?

 

[Lolonegoal]

Lidstrom didn't start winning Norris' until he was 31.

Naslund broke out from a 60 point player when he was 28, and had 104 points as a 30 year old.

Tim Thomas, Brent Burns, Giordano, Chara, Kopitar, Wheeler, there's lots of players that have taken their careers to new heights after their mid-twenties. You can even start digging deep with guys like Bucyk if you look in the deep past.

It happens. People on Hfboards just have old people blinders on.

then the hfboard users get old and start defending the older players!

 

[PB37]

Changed his diet

Changed his workouts and who he worked out with in the offseason

Started seeing a sports psychologist

Coach started putting his line in more offensive situations, including more PP time

Linemates also excelling

 

[The Laukomotive]

Cassidy is actually using them as a first line instead of giving the Krejci line the most minutes and having the Bergeron line handle all the heavy lifting. Even when they had Seguin on the wing, a lot of the offense came through the counterattack rather than having that line being put out in the best offensive situations to let them dictate the play. For the longest time Julien never used to use him on the PP and now he's become one of the focal points of the PP.

He's definitely gotten better as a player though. He's always had a lot of talent and was a really efficient scorer, but his passing has gotten a lot better and his edgework and puck protection has also gotten a lot better. He's a player that for years used to go on stretches of dominant play and then long stretches of nothing when he wasn't playing with confidence, but he's become WAY more consistent now. He also had that big breakout year in 2015/16 when he put up 37 goals, and that was under Julien. The point totals overall just weren't there yet.

This is the right answer.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Training and rule changes.

Also contrary to HFboards, players can and do have great seasons after their mid-twenties. Last season 7/10 of the top scorers were in their 30's.

Sure, can and do have great seasons. However, they don't normally improve in consecutive seasons in their late 20's/early 30's. The only bad part for Marchand is he's done all this after signing his current contract. He could've made a lot more money if he had better timing.

Great for the Bruins though. For them to be getting this kind of production from not only Marchand, but Bergeron and Krejci too, is why they're not only surviving, but thriving, despite wasting $6m in space on Backes. Plus ending up with Pastrnak at the 25th overall pick. There's not a single player anywhere close to as good as he is within 10 selections either way of that slot in the draft.

 

[CraigsList]

Pastrnak joining Marchand and Bergeron is what happened.

 

[deckercky]

He stole the sedins' mojo in 2011

 

[Emerz]

Julien obviously helped develop the defensive side of Marchand's game but he didn't seem to see the potential that Marchand had in an offensive role. Since Cassidy took over he immediately recognized the elite offensive talented that Marchand really always had. He hardly got PP time with Julien.

Pastrnak being drafted and having instant chemistry didn't hurt either but Marchand is the kind of guy who can create offense all on his own.

Also he saw a sports psychologist which I believe he credits for a decent amount of his success.