Panthers close out trade deadline with another big deal, getting Brad Marchand from Bruins
The Florida Panthers closed out the NHL trade deadline on Friday with another blockbuster: They have acquired veteran forward Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins.
The Panthers are sending back one draft pick — either a second-round pick in 2027 or a first-round pick in 2028 — to the Bruins. The pick is contingent on how many of the Panthers’ playoff games Marchand plays. If it’s more than half, Boston receives the 2028 first-round pick.
The Bruins are retaining half of Marchand’s $6.125 million salary, according to Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito.
That leaves Florida with $1,307,500 in cap space after the deal.
Marchand, 36, has played his entire 16-season NHL career with the Bruins. In 1,090 games, he has 422 goals and 976 points. He has 21 goals and 47 points through 61 games this season. He won the Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011 and is a two-time All-Star.
“His record speaks for itself,” Zito said. “We’re thrilled to have him on board.”
He has missed Boston’s past three games while dealing with an upper-body injury sustained in the Bruins’ 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Zito said he anticipates Marchand will keep him out another couple weeks.
When he does return, he’ll join a star-studded forward group that already includes the likes of Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett — the latter two of whom Marchand played with on Team Canada during the 4 Nations Face-Off last month.
“He might be one of the top guys, too,” Zito said. “If you watched the 4 Nations, he was pretty effective. We think he’s still got some gas in the tank. He’s a dynamic player. He’s a multi-faceted attack — whether it’s his skating, his grit, his skill, his hockey sense, his will to win, his compete.”
An interesting subplot to watch unfold: Bennett and Marchand were at the center of a fracas in the second round of last season’s Stanley Cup playoffs after Bennett sucker punched Marchand during Game 3 of the series, which the Panthers won in six games on its way to winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
“He plays hard. He’s an extremely physical player. Great player for the group. I think he got away with a shot, but I’m not gonna complain. [Stuff] happens,” Marchand told reporters in Boston about the punch ahead of Game 6. “That’s part of playoff hockey. I’ve been on the other side of a lot of plays. I think you can get away with one, but that’s part of the game and definitely part of playoff hockey. It sucks to be on the other side of it, but that stuff happens. I’m not going to sit here and complain about it because it’s part of the game, but yeah, I think he got away with one.”
Bennett said at the time the collision wasn’t intentional.
“It’s one of those plays where he’s coming to hit me,” Bennett said after Florida’s Game 4 win against Boston. “I’m trying to brace myself. There’s no way I would have had time to think about punching him in the face like everyone said, but people can have their opinions. I know it definitely wasn’t intentional. I’m bracing myself as he’s coming to hit me, and it’s unfortunate that he got hit. Obviously, he’s a heck of a player and a big part of that team. So it’s unfortunate, but by no means was that an intentional punch in the face.”
All is probably forgiven now.
Marchand was the fifth trade the Panthers made over the past week. The rest:
▪ Acquiring five-time All-Star defensemen Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday for goaltender Spencer Knight and a conditional 2026 first-round pick.
▪ Trading for San Jose Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek on Wednesday in exchange for forward prospect Patrick Giles.
▪ Picking up center Nico Sturm from the Sharks on Thursday for a 2026 fourth-round pick. Florida is also getting a seventh-round pick in 2027 in the deal.
▪ Getting goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for goaltender Chris Driedger.
And it won’t take too long for Marchand to see his former team. The Panthers play the Bruins in Boston on Tuesday.
This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 3:15 PM.
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