Brad Marchand's immense talent has always come with a caveat.

Marchand is energetic, but crosses the line into playing dirty. Marchand is an important player for Boston, but not a guy to carry the Bruins. Marchand is a good scorer, but that's really all he contributes.

Not anymore.

"He's improving every year," said defenseman Zdeno Chara, who has been teammates with Marchand throughout the 28-year-old's NHL career. "He's working hard and he's taking on some tough tasks and obviously he proved that he belongs to the top players in this league. He takes a lot of pride in his game and he's got a lot of emotions in his game and drive to be always kind of noticed on the ice, whether it's playing with the puck or without the puck.

"That's what makes him a really great competitor. He just loves to be out there and always competing and doing things for his team. He's had just an unbelievable year for us. Without his play, I think we'd be a different team. For sure, he's grown."

Marchand has 37 goals this season, tying the career high he set a year ago, and is five behind Sidney Crosby for the NHL lead. But while he also set a new career high in 2015-16 with 61 points, Marchand now is at 80 with seven games remaining - fourth in the league behind Connor McDavid (88), Crosby (82), and Patrick Kane (81) in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.

Between all the scoring and the importance Marchand has had to the Bruins, he's also in the Hart Trophy conversation. He would be the first Boston player to win the award since Phil Esposito in 1973-74.

Meanwhile, Marchand has pared down his penalty minutes from 95 and 90 the past two seasons to 64. He's still plenty capable of playing the agitator, but has turned a corner when it comes to responsibility.

"A lot of those were from frustration," Marchand said. "I've gotten away from that - tried to get away from it, and just play the game. That's where you help your team, is trying to be a better player than being in the box all the time."

The Bruins can't afford to have Marchand be a regular visitor to the penalty box. He's too important to what they do on the ice as a more than a point-a-game player - and with Boston clinging to an Eastern Conference wild-card spot entering the week, Marchand's ability to stay out of the box could mean the difference between a playoff berth and a spot in the draft lottery.

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As much as Marchand's discipline has improved, where he has really taken a step forward is on the power play, with eight goals and 13 assists. His previous bests in those categories were six and two.

"Brad's always had it in him and always wanted to do it," said Bruins interim coach Bruce Cassidy. "I think, having more reps in there, in front of the net on the power play, I think that's helped his confidence, helped him in those situations.

"Now he has a little more comfort in that area, where before it was more of an attacking mentality from the half-wall, now he's more on the goal line facing more of the players, so that's become an area where he's gotten comfortable. And sometimes you just have years where it clicks. Hopefully ... it continues and becomes a consistent part of his game. I don't see why it can't be."

With such performance comes responsibility, and Marchand has come to recognize that. He has embraced growing into a leadership role and that's important for the Bruins given that the 40-year-old Chara has only one season left on his contract. Marchand, David Backes, Patrice Bergeron, and David Krejci are the Bruins' core going forward, all signed through at least 2021 - with Marchand having the longest deal of the group, through 2025.

"It goes by quick," Marchand said. "I think I kind of woke up the last year or two, and realized that I'm getting up there, but when you see guys like Z and Bergy, and in the past like (Chris Kelly) and (Mark) Recchi, (Andrew) Ference, guys like that who have been really great leaders and did the job at showing the young guys how to play the right way, how to be a pro, you kind of learn that.

"I've been playing with Bergy so long, I like to watch him and what he does, and you see guys off the ice, how they train, how they prepare for each and every day - not just games, but practices - and all the mental state, and the way they're a pro. You learn that, and I've been fortunate to be around a lot of great leaders. They wear off on you. It's that time where I have to learn how to do that and be more like those guys."

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