David Pastrnak makes his thoughts extremely clear on rumored rift with Brad Marchand

David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand popped up in the news cycle late this morning. Rich Keefe of the "Jones and Keefe" show reported that the Boston Bruins locker room is struggling.

Keefe said that Pastrnak had expressed a desire not to play on a line with Marchand, possibly due to the 36-year-old calling him out for inconsistent play.

Pastrnak addressed the media this afternoon, strongly denying Keefe's claims.

"I've never in my life said I don't want to play with this guy to the coaching staff or management, and I never would," Pastrnak said. "I love playing with Marchy. I've been playing with him for so long.

"I thought he was making fun of me. ... We've been laughing about this all day."

Rumors surfaced as the Bruins continue to struggle, having lost six consecutive games and being outscored 24-11 during that stretch. This slump has dropped their record to 20-19-5 (45 points), placing them in a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, just ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins, both with 44 points.

David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are having down seasons in 2024-25

The 2024-25 campaign has not gone according to plan for David Pastrnak or Brad Marchand. Both players are struggling statistically compared to their standards.

Pastrnak has 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 44 games, while Marchand has 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists) in 44 games. This puts them on full-season paces of 78 and 62 points, respectively, which would be Pastrnak's lowest since 2016-17 and Marchand's lowest since 2015-16. Unchartered territory for the Bruins and their fans to see the two-star forwards not producing up to expectations.

A key cause of the offensive woes has been the power play. The Bruins sit 31st in the NHL in power play percentage at 12.2 percent, staggeringly low for a team with as much talent as Boston.

The Bruins will look to tune out the noise and snap their losing skid on Saturday afternoon as they face the Florida Panthers on the road. The puck drops at 1 p.m. ET at Amerant Bank Arena.