The Boston Bruins have been an awfully fortunate franchise of late.
They managed to avoid any major injuries during a grueling regular season, barely managed to unseat their arch-rivals in the opening round of the playoffs, didn't have to face Chris Pronger or a goaltender against Philadelphia, beat Tampa Bay (which barely outlasted a Sidney Crosby- and Evgeni Malkin-less Penguins squad) and beat Vancouver after the Canucks lost countless defensemen in the seven-game Stanley Cup Final series.
To make matters better, every key piece of their Stanley Cup run remained under contract heading into the offseason.
All of them, save for Brad Marchand, whose extended contract negotiations are starting to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of some fans.
It could be worse, however, as DJ Bean writes over at WEEI.com.
With seven Bruins unrestricted after the season and Tuukka Rask and David Krejci restricted free agents following the 2011-12 season (not to mention an impending lockout), Peter Chiarelli will surely have his hands full. Not being able to quickly extend Marchand makes Chiarelli look bad in the eyes of other agents, who may be less willing to negotiate with Chiarelli.
To be sure, the Bruins will be looking to offer contracts to many of their key cogs in the months ahead, but it'll be interesting to see what level of difficulty they experience in doing so.