Bruins captain Brad Marchand has repeatedly made it clear that to get him off the ice and out of the National Hockey League, the powers that be will have to forcefully drag him off the ice.

Likely kicking and screaming, too.

But this past summer came with Marchand off the ice under the order of medical professionals, as the 36-year-old Boston captain’s offseason was headlined by not one, not two, but three separate operations, as revealed by Marchand on Tuesday morning.

“I had three surgeries this summer, so I didn’t do a whole lot of training until about two weeks ago,” Marchand said. “I’m just kind of getting back into it now. I don’t know if you guys were here, but I was skating by myself. So, you know, the goal is to try to be ready for camp or if not very shortly after that.

“But I’m just kind of getting back into the swing of things here now, so I’m going to hit it all head on.”

The surgeries were in relation to an elbow injury, as well as groin and abdominal injuries, with the veteran Marchand noting those as sports hernia-type injuries.

The elbow ailment is something that Marchand played with for the entire 2023-24 season, while the groin and abdominal injuries were sustained late in the regular season. Marchand also notably suffered a concussion during Boston’s second-round playoff series with the Panthers.

Brad Marchand underwent three surgeries this past summer. Elbow (torn tendon), groin, and abdominal. Played through elbow injury all 2023-24, while other two injuries happened late in 2023-24 regular season.

— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) September 3, 2024

Marchand, who underwent a double-hip procedure in 2022, is no stranger to recovery. And his work ethic remains among the top in the league, clearly, with Marchand (even as a team captain) entering this upcoming season with something extra to prove.

“It’s completely different, but it’s also, in a lot of ways, the same,” Marchand said of his mindset as his preps for his 16th NHL season. “You know, I feel like as you get older, I feel like you almost need to establish yourself like a young guy again. There’s so much talk these days about as you get older, you know, you can’t play and teams don’t want or don’t like guys that are in the 30s or mid-30s, whatever it is. And it’s almost like you need to re-establish every year that you belong.

“And as a young guy coming in, you need to earn your spot every day. You need to show that you’re a good pro and and compete at this level and you can deal with the schedule and the challenges that come with being a an NHL player. And you need to earn it and as you get older, everyone’s trying to push you out and the young guys are starting to take jobs. And you know teams are looking to go young and, and you almost have to have that same mindset that you need to show that you can still play and keep up with the young guys and keep up with the new talent and the speed.”

Marchand, for what it’s worth, expects to remain to the left of Charlie Coyle as Boston’s one-two punch on the second line once again this season.

And the competition for who gets the call to the right of them on that line will remain one of the most interesting discussions throughout training camp, and the more reps with Marchand actually available and riding on the opposite wing the better for this club, which is something the club will not have to worry too much about too, too much this month. Even if it came at the expense of a Brad Summer.

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