I won’t say that despite a little justified bias, you don’t have a point.
I just see the team galvanizing around the presence he brought/assisted through several seasons in a way that may see Marchand being the Marchand we know, but sees others on his squad try to be their most effective selves.
(With potential for a few diving and licking incidents which won’t bother a productive roster - if they’re productive.)
You're a glass half full kind of person.
There is no doubt Marchand is a great player. I have no idea what kind of a person he is off the ice. He could have a heart of gold for all I know. But his on-ice play for me ranks him as one of the top douche bags of all time. Marchand is a gold medal douche bag. He is what silver and bronze douche bags aspire to be.
In my opinion, someone who plays with such a total disregard for the rules, for other player's safety, and with such a lack of respect for the players he plays against, is anything but captain material. Captains are players who first and foremost lead by example: Jean Beliveau, Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic, former Bruin Ray Bourque, Nicklas Lidstrom, George Armstrong. Marchand's character is not even remotely close to being on the same level of those great captains.
I will acknowledge that there have been exceptions to the rule - the most notable I can think of offhand being my old friend Bobby Clarke. Will Marchand challenge Clarke for being a dirty but great captain? Who the hell knows. The Bruins have the horses where they could succeed with or without Marchand at the helm, or without any captain at all, so this may always be a matter of debate.