Brad Marchand has a lot to say about the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Over the last several years the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins have built something of a rivalry with a number of playoff clashes as well as routine matchups during the regular season as members of the National Hockey League's Atlantic Division.

Although there has been some rivalry there, the rivalry itself has largely been one-sided with the Bruins dominating the Leafs when it comes to meaningful games in recent years making things a little one sided. While that may lead you to believe that the Maple Leafs will simply never get over the hump, especially now with the Bruins looking like the best team in the NHL, it would appear as though the Bruins themselves do not believe that to be true.

Recently Boston Bruins veteran forward Brad Marchand was asked to share his thoughts on the struggles that have haunted the Leafs in recent years, and somewhat surprisingly the notorious Bruins agitator was very positive about their team. Marchand began by complimenting the Leafs for their most obvious quality, their offensive game.

"They do a good job of swarming you in the defensive zone," said Marchand. "They take time and space away."

"Any time you have a team that is offensive-minded the way that they are, they are going to kind of leave the zone and go for offense. They are going to try to make the extra play in the d-zone where at times it can bite them, but they are so good offensively and their D join so well that you have to respect that. It pulls your D out of the zone. It gives them time and space. They create a ton off of that."

Marchand however does not appear to believe the Leafs are one-dimensional and pointed to improvements the Leafs have made to their blue line by bringing in more of what you would consider traditional defensemen.

"You have to respect it, but they have definitely gotten better over the last number of years." admitted Marchand. "They brought some D in that are much more defensively responsible, harder to play against, a little more physical, and a little bigger. They are definitely improving. They are a legit contender this year."

Perhaps most interesting of all however were Marchand's comments regarding the Maple Leafs failures. The Bruins veteran, who has experienced his fair share of defeats over the years, revealed that he believes it has made the Maple Leafs a more formidable opponent to contend with.

"I've said that for the last few years, and it hasn't gone their way," said Marchand. "But every year that you go through adversity like they have, you learn a lot from it."

"They have done that. Their stars are another year older, stronger, and better. They are a very dangerous team."

The part that fans of the Maple Leafs will be most interested to hear however will be Marchand's thoughts on the future of this squad. Marchand would go on to express his belief that it's not a matter of whether or not the Leafs will ever get over the hump, but rather a matter of when.

"It has been unfortunate for them just because they have had such a great team for so long and they haven't been able to get over that hump," said Marchand. "But it is a matter of time for them where they are going to make a really good push and go deep. They're just too talented."