"Little embarrassing on my behalf": When Brad Marchand had to clear the air with Marcus Johansson after his trade to Bruins

In 2019, when Marcus Johansson was traded to the Boston Bruins from the New Jersey Devils, people anticipated some drama with fellow forward Brad Marchand with whom he had some history. In the previous season, Marchand had elbowed Johansson in a game that kept him out of action for 28 games.

In the third period of the game on Jan. 23, 2018, Marchand's elbow caught Johansson on the face in front of the Devils goal. The hit jolted the Swedish forward who immediately fell to the ground holding his face. Marchand was suspended by NHL's Department of Player Safety for five games and was fined in excess of $373k.

When he returned to his first practice after the hit, Johansonn called out the Bruins forward.

"It was stupid. There's nothing else to say about it," Johannson said. "There was no point in doing that. There was no hockey play there whatsoever. I think it's sad to see that there's still guys out there that are trying to hurt other guys."

But certainly time healed the situation in this case. When the Devils announced Johansson's trade in February 2019, Marchand personally called his new teammate, clearing the air between the two.

“It was a very bad hit and also with how everything played out after, I wanted to touch base,” Marchand had said. “He’s very mature about the situation and handled it great. A little embarrassing on my behalf the way it played out.”

Even Johansson, chose to move the past the incident:

“That’s water under the bridge."

Bruins GM Don Sweeney had hoped for reconciliation between the pair

Since the incident was still fresh in the minds of the people involved when Johansson got traded, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney had made it a point to put forward the question in front of the winger when he was signed. To that, Johansson put forward a witty response, telling Sweeney:

"I'd much rather be playing with Marchand than against."

Sweeney also explained his anticipation of the much anticipated meet-up:

"I mean, in the moment, it's not great, it's not great for the player. March felt bad about it. He wasn't trying to hurt a player. And he paid the price for that. But hockey players are ... I've seen a lot of tough guys have a beef and then go out and have a beer afterwards.

"So I think it'll be perfectly fine and March will be the first one to welcome him aboard. That's the teammate that he is."

Unlike Marchand's, Johansson's stay with the Bruins was a short one, lasting half a season before he signed with the Buffalo Sabres. Although he had played a crucial role in the third line to get the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019.