Martins Karsums played only six games for the Boston Bruins during the 2008-09 season, but his brief presence set in motion one of the organization's most important acquisitions of the past decade.
After the Bruins selected him as the 64th pick in the 2004 draft, Karsums went on to log 24 games in the NHL (the other 18 came with the Tampa Bay Lightning). Before turning pro, Karsums was with the Moncton Wildcats, and the Bruins kept a close eye on his development. Every time the scouts returned with reports, however, they raved about Karsums' teammate, Brad Marchand.
"Guys kept coming back saying, 'Check this kid out. He's really skilled and ultracompetitive for a smaller player," said one former Bruins hockey operations staffer.
Jeff Gorton, the current New York Rangers general manager, was then working for the Bruins as assistant GM. He served as interim GM during the 2006 draft in Vancouver. Boston selected Phil Kessel in the first round (fifth overall), and its second-round selections were Yuri Alexandrov (37th overall) and Milan Lucic (50th). The Bruins did not have a pick in the third round, but Gorton, who has a keen eye for young talent, had targeted Marchand.
A couple of things were working against Boston's chances of landing Marchand in the third round. 1: The New York Islanders had two picks in the beginning of the third round, and the team had just hired Marchand's junior coach, Ted Nolan, as its new bench boss. 2: The Bruins had to surrender their third-round pick to the Ottawa Senators for hiring Peter Chiarelli to serve as Boston's new GM, beginning in July 2006.
"It didn't look great for us to be able to get [Marchand]," Gorton told ESPN.com via text.
Gorton knew Marchand was the type of player the Bruins hadn't had in a while -- someone who could one day become a driving force behind the team's success.
On draft day, Gorton traded the Bruins' two fourth-round picks for the Islanders' third-round selection. Boston then selected Marchand as the 71st overall pick -- and that choice has proved crucial for the organization. Many hockey personnel wondered that day why the Islanders didn't select Marchand 70th overall and instead chose Robin Figren. Either way, the hockey operations staff at Boston's draft table was thrilled the Bruins had landed Marchand.
"I'd be lying to say we knew he was going to be this good. Otherwise we should have taken him a lot sooner," Gorton said recently.
In Marchand the Bruins acquired a player with skill, skating ability, hockey IQ, character and competitiveness. Now in his eighth NHL season, the 28-year-old forward has reached new levels in all of those categories, especially in terms of his competitive intensity.
"It's pretty impressive the way he's improved," said Bruins alternate captain and longtime linemate Patrice Bergeron. "I've always thought he was an amazing player to play with. The way he's handled himself on the ice night in and night out -- he's always been first on pucks, working hard, competing and all that -- I just think he's improved his game from one year to another. He got 37 goals last year and it wasn't a fluke. Obviously we're seeing that right now. It's great to see."
This season, Marchand has three goals and seven assists for 10 points in eight games. He has carried over his success from the World Cup of Hockey, where he helped lead Team Canada to a championship with five goals and three assists for eight points in six games. The decision by Team Canada and coach Mike Babcock to give Marchand a roster spot and put him on the top line, along with Sidney Crosby and Bergeron, was based on that competitiveness.
Crosby, widely considered the best player in the world, said he was confident Marchand would have a positive impact both on and off the ice for Team Canada.
Crosby also knew even before he hoisted the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in June that Bergeron and Marchand would be his World Cup linemates. So Crosby invited both of them to work out for a week during the summer in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Because Marchand is a fellow Nova Scotian, he skated a bit longer with Crosby during the offseason. That ice time was invaluable, helping build chemistry among the trio -- and it showed once the puck dropped at the World Cup.
It also helped that Bergeron and Marchand have been linemates in Boston since the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011. Before the World Cup, some wondered how Marchand's presence would be received with Team Canada. He's had a reputation as an agitator who crosses the line at times.
Marchand has been suspended three times for a total of 10 games. But he also has the reputation of being a good teammate. He's one of the first players on the ice for practice and one of the last ones to leave. He works his tail off during practice, and that translates during games. He is strong. He is fast. He's not easily knocked off his skates. He's basically one of those players you love to have on your team but hate to play against.
His Team Canada teammates learned that firsthand during the World Cup.
"He's really starting to shed that reputation, and he's earning a lot of respect from [the] people watching, but also people in that dressing room, [who] are discovering how good a person he really is -- things we've known for a long time in Boston," Bruins coach Claude Julien said during the tournament.
Marchand understands that he'll never completely shed the "pest" label. "That's the reputation I've had for a while and people may see me as a little better player now, but that reputation will probably never leave, which is fine," he said recently. "I don't care either way, but it's nice to be recognized as maybe a little bit better hockey player than people might have thought."
After the World Cup culminated with Team Canada's victory, Babcock said Marchand will continue to be Marchand.
"Let's not kid ourselves; he's still a pest," Babcock said. "He's going to be a pest. But he's a pest with elite speed and elite skill and a good penalty killer."
Marchand has won a Stanley Cup. He won a World Championship with Canada in May. And he was a major contributor for Canada's World Cup victory. Marchand has become a complete player. If the NHL decides to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics, No. 63 should be on that roster.
During the World Cup, the Bruins announced that they had signed Marchand to an eight-year contract extension worth $49 million. It should keep him in Boston for the remainder of his career.
"I'm extremely excited," he said. "That was always a dream of mine to remain [in Boston] and be part of this team for a long time, and I have that opportunity now. I'm very fortunate. I'm very proud and excited about that, but I still have to do my job the next number of years and make sure they keep me around."
No doubt he will continue to hear boos and insults from opposing fans, but Marchand has finally earned a spot at the big-boy table in hockey.