"It's been very tough, emotional": David Pastrnak makes his feelings known about Brad Marchand's trade to Panthers

David Pastrnak was clearly emotional when speaking about his close friend and longtime teammate Brad Marchand being traded from the Boston Bruins to the Florida Panthers.

Speaking to reporters after the 4-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, Pastrnak made it clear just how difficult the situation has been for him and the rest of the team.

"Yeah, it's been very tough — emotional, sad. Obviously, a lot has happened in that time. Personally, I lost three really close friends, and it's a tough pill to swallow," Pastrnak said.

The Bruins also made several other trades in recent days, dealing away players like Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau.

"Not only did we lose leaders on this team, but also great human beings, guys with families that I was really close to. I've been here since day one with them, so it was a really tough day yesterday."

He admitted to thinking that it was all a dream when he woke up the morning after, saying that reality really sunk in at that point. However, despite the emotional turmoil, Pastrnak said:

"We're still professional hockey players, and we have a job to do. We have to get our mindset right, look forward, and focus on what's ahead." Pastrnak added.

He expressed confidence that if the Bruins give maximum effort, like in their last two games, they could have more success than struggles down the stretch.

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Elliotte Friedman's take on the Brad Marchand situation

Speaking on Sportsnet, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman provided an update on what happened with the contract negotiation between the Boston Bruins and Brad Marchand.

According to Friedman, the main sticking point in talks has been the average annual value.

"No.1, I think Bruins and the player had agreed on term, 3-years, but as Don Sweeney said yesterday, there is a gap, there is a gap on AAV. I don't think he was being asked to take pay cut or anything like that, but I do think it was sizeable gap they obviously could not bridge."

At some point, Brad Marchand requested a face-to-face meeting with the Bruins management in hopes of finding a compromise, saying that he would bend on some of his asks if the team did the same. However, the meeting didn't lead to a breakthrough.

"I think it reallly hurt Marchand that face to face meeting couldn't get the deal done." Friedman added.

Eventually, Friedman believes the inability to get a deal done in that pivotal meeting really hurt Brad Marchand emotionally, as he wants to remain a lifelong Bruin.