Brad Marchand is staking his claim as a premier scorer, and it's affecting how the Boston Bruins proceed with Loui Eriksson as the NHL's trade deadline rapidly approaches.

First, some numbers.

With a goal in Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Marchand continued to up his career high, with only three players recording more than his 31 this season.

Marchand, 27, is in the penultimate season of a four-year, $18-million deal signed back in 2013, and will therefore be looking for a tidy raise based on how his overall game has improved since that time. He'll be eligible to sign an extension with the Bruins as early as July 1, a date that coincides with Eriksson's impending foray into unrestricted free agency.

The conundrum for general manager Don Sweeney, then, is trying to retain Eriksson's services while also not handcuffing his team in terms of salary obligations over the next several years.

Reports, however, suggest negotiations aren't going well between the Bruins and Eriksson.

With 23 goals and 25 assists, Eriksson has recorded one more point than Marchand, and will certainly be looking to parlay a strong season into a long-term, high-money deal that will carry him into his mid- to late-thirties.

But the reality is the Bruins, who have major deficiencies on the blue line, won't be able to both meet Eriksson's demands and sign Marchand to the kind of extension he'll warrant.

So in the immediate future, the question becomes whether to trade Eriksson, keep him for a potential Stanley Cup run and risk losing him for nothing on the open market this summer, or, ideally, sign him to a more team-friendly extension that leaves room for Marchand's big deal and allows the team to address other areas of the lineup.

Eriksson, of course, is under no obligation to take a hometown discount, and although the Bruins are no doubt celebrating Marchand's break out, his looming free agency is indeed greatly affecting what the Bruins choose to do with his fellow winger.

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