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| Brad Marchand has signed a four-year extension with the Bruins. (Getty Images) |
The Boston Bruins announced on Friday afternoon that forward Brad Marchand has agreed to a four-year contract extension with the team.
The deal is worth a total of $18 million, which comes out to a salary cap hit of $4.5 million per season, which is a pretty significant raise over his current deal.
The 24-year-old Marchand is coming off his second full season in the NHL and scored a career-high 28 goals for the Bruins in 2011-12 while mostly playing alongside Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin.
He still has one year remaining on his current contract and will make $2.5 million during the 2012-13 season. His new deal will keep him in Boston through the end of the 2016-17 season.
Marchand has become a valuble player for the Bruins over the past two years and sees significant ice time in all situations, playing tough minutes during 5-on-5 play while also getting power play and penalty-kill minutes. It didn't take him long to start making an impact with the Bruins. After scoring 21 goals as a rookie during the 2010-11 regular season, he had a terrific playoff run for the Bruins that postseason as he helped the franchise end its lengthy Stanley Cup drought by adding 19 points (11 goals, 8 assists) in Boston's 25 playoff games, leading all rookie scorers that year.
He would have been eligible for restricted free agency after this season. The only other Bruins signed through the '16-17 season are forward Marc Savard (though it's not known when or if he will play again) and defenseman Zdeno Chara.
Forwards Milan Lucic, Seguin, and Jordan Caron are all restricted free agents after this season and could be the next players in line to get new deals in Boston.
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