Marchand underwent 3 offseason surgeries, hopes to be ready for camp
Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand revealed he underwent elbow, groin, and abdominal surgeries this offseason to address issues that plagued him throughout the 2023-24 campaign.
Though the veteran forward is behind the eight-ball in terms of his preparation, he still hopes to be a participant when training camp opens Sept. 18.
"I didn't do a whole lot of training until about two weeks ago. ... The goal is to try to be ready for camp or, if not (then), very shortly after," he said Tuesday. "But I'm just kind of getting back in the swing of things here now. I'm going to hit it all head-on."
Marchand tore a tendon in his elbow last summer and played through the issue. He suffered the other two ailments in the last month of the season.
"They kept bugging me into the summer, so I figured I'd get them taken care of," he explained, according to NHL.com's Amalie Benjamin.
Despite the injuries, Marchand didn't miss a regular-season game. He totaled 29 goals and 67 points while averaging just over 19 minutes of ice time per contest.
The 36-year-old missed two second-round games after suffering an upper-body injury on a hit from Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett.
"The biggest thing is probably getting conditioning back up to speed. ... My strength's kind of there already," Marchand said. "Power and conditioning, I think, is where I need to focus to get back to where I need to be."
Marchand underwent surgery to repair both hips in May 2022 and was initially given a six-month recovery timeline. He returned one month ahead of schedule and only missed the first seven games of the 2022-23 campaign.
The Halifax native is about to embark on his 16th NHL campaign and final season of his eight-year deal with the Bruins. However, Marchand isn't interested in talking about any contract negotiations publicly.
"I won't ever talk about contract stuff in the media. ... I think there's enough respect between the two sides that we can deal with it," he said.