Insider responds to accusations of 'false' report from Brad Marchand.

There was some drama over the weekend surrounding the future of Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand in Boston, specifically as it pertains to what appears to be an ongoing contract negotiation with the Bruins.

The controversy began when, on Saturday, National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman reported during a segment on Hockey Night in Canada that Marchand and the Bruins were closing in on what would be a 3 year contract extension. The report in and of itself wasn't enough to cause any controversy, but what did cause it was Marchand quickly denying that report and even going so far as to call it "false" when speaking to reporters following the news.

That left us with more questions than answers regarding the status of the contract negotiations between Marchand and the Bruins, but on Monday morning Friedman got the chance to respond to criticism directed his way by the Bruins captain on the latest episode of his podcast. Much to his credit, Friedman took the criticism in stride and did his best to clarify what he believes may be going on behind the scenes.

"He's the source, there's no better source on this one than Marchand since he's the guy who is actually going to sign the contract," admitted Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. "So if he says at this point in time that I'm wrong or the story is false, is the phrase he used, then I just have to eat it because he knows where things stand."

Friedman believes that the Bruins may be looking for something more short term than a 3 year extension for their captain.

"I'll say this," began Friedman. "I don't believe talks have broken off between the Bruins and Marchand. I don't think this is a situation where they've stopped discussing it or they are no longer moving forward in an attempt to sign an extension, so I'm not concerned about that. What someone said to me on Sunday morning was 'If you're going to be wrong on this one' he thinks I'm going to be wrong on term.

"He thinks that the Bruins would prefer two years instead of three and we'll see where we go here."

Despite the potential differences between Marchand's camp and the Bruins when it comes to term, Friedman still expects that a contract extension will materialize.

"Long term I think this is going to get done," said Friedman.