The 2025 NHL Trade Deadline featured a ton of action, with multiple big-name players changing teams Friday afternoon. One of those big-name players left his team in a rather surprising fashion. The Florida Panthers traded for Brad Marchand in a stunning trade with the Boston Bruins. Marchand has recently suffered an injury, so it may be a while before he debuts for Florida. In any event, head coach Paul Maurice is excited about the move.
Maurice spoke with the media following the last-minute deadline deal. The veteran bench boss acknowledged Marchand’s history with the team. Some of that history makes the fit quite interesting. However, the Panthers coach pointed to the 4 Nations tournament, when Marchand skated with some Florida stars for Team Canada, as a positive for his team.
“Brad Marchand comes in here, and there’s a history with the Florida Panthers,” Maurice said, via NHL.com’s George Richards. “But there’s a great history because he, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart played on a team together that had great success. There’s an instant connection in our room when he comes in. I think those connections are vital when you start the playoffs.”
Brad Marchand’s history with Panthers goes beyond Team Canada
Marchand is no stranger to the Panthers by any means. The history goes back a couple of seasons. Marchand captained the Bruins to the greatest regular season performance in NHL history. Boston won 65 games — a new single-season record — and earned 135 points — also a new single-season record.
In the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Bruins met the Panthers in round one. And it seemed as if it was going to be a lopsided series. Boston raced out to a 3-1 series lead, and had a chance to win the game in the dying seconds. In fact, it was Marchand who received a breakaway with less than 10 seconds remaining. However, he could not score, and the game went to overtime.
The Panthers went on to win Game 5 that season. And they went on to win the entire series. Florida eliminated Boston in seven games thanks to a clutch overtime goal from Carter Verhaeghe. They went on to make the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, though they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
In 2024, these Atlantic Division rivals met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs once again. This time, they played in the second round. The roles were reversed, as well. The Panthers were the Stanley Cup favorite, while Marchand’s Bruins were the underdogs.
Boston put in a valiant effort, and nearly forced seven games. However, Florida was too much to overcome. The Panthers eliminated the Bruins again en route to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Marchand has not won the Stanley Cup since 2011 with Boston. Now, he has a chance to raise a Cup late in his career. And he will get that chance with the team that prevented him from winning it all in each of the last two seasons.
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