Brad Marchand rejected contract offer before trade.

Many fans in the Boston area woke up this morning wondering if, and perhaps hoping, it had all just been a bad dream. Unfortunately the fact that the front office of the Boston Bruins, notably general manager Don Sweeney and president Cam Neely, made the difficult decision to trade now former Bruins captain Brad Marchand to divisional rivals the Florida Panthers is all too real.

To say that there has been outrage directed at Sweeney and Neely following yesterday's shocking move would be an understatement, with one merely needing to open social media to see countless examples of fans calling for their jobs.

It makes sense that fans would have an emotional response to Marchand being traded given his expressed desire to remain a Bruin for life, on top of his nearly two decades of loyal service to the franchise, and making matters worse is the fact that it seems to have all come down to money in the end.

According to a report from ESPN's John Buccigross, the Bruins made Marchand a final offer prior to trading him to the Florida Panthers for what many seem to feel was a relatively meager return. According to Buccigross, the deal would have been a 2 year deal with an average annual value and cap hit of $3 million per season but obviously Marchand and his camp didn't feel inclined to sign that contract.

That would have represented a significant decrease in pay for Marchand who is currently in the final year of an 8 year deal that carries an average annual value and cap hit of $6.125 million per season. That deal was considered to be a steal for the Bruins according to most pundits, which may have made this latest offer from the Bruins appear more than a little insulting.

While Marchand has certainly lost a step at 36 years of age, a deal with that short of a term and a relatively low AAV in a world where the salary cap is projected to explode over the next 3 seasons has been viewed by many as a lowball offer. It would appear that Marchand and his representatives had a similar response to the offer given how things turned out in the end on Friday.