After soaking in Panthers debut, Brad Marchand ready to make ‘something special’ happen
Brad Marchand admitted it felt weird as he stepped onto the ice Friday night, as he heard the crowd of his new team supporting him. This, after all, used to be enemy territory for him.
“That was the first time it kind of hit me,” Marchand said. “Going out there and being cheered by Panthers fans was a lot different.”
For the first time in 16 years, for the first time in 1,090 NHL games (1,247 if you include the Stanley Cup playoffs), the veteran winger wasn’t wearing a Boston Bruins sweater. The Florida Panthers traded for Marchand on March 7 for a conditional 2027 second-round pick, ending his lifelong run with one of the NHL’s storied franchises. He spent the next three weeks rehabbing an upper-body injury he had sustained shortly before the trade.
Finally, on Friday, he made his Panthers debut, receiving a loud ovation from the Amerant Bank Arena crowd when announced as part of the starting lineup. He had the primary assist on Florida’s game-winning goal in a 2-1 overtime win over the Utah Hockey Club, a slick pass to adversary-turned-teammate Sam Bennett with 41.1 seconds left in the five-minute extra period, and looked comfortable with his new team all night.
“He hasn’t played in, what, a month now, and he steps right in and is dominating the game,” Bennett said. “That’s tough to do on your first game back, especially on a new team. I think he’s going to fit in here real nice.”
The Panthers certainly hope so, and Marchand’s debut came at a critical time.
Florida (44-25-3, 91 points) entered Saturday holding a one-point lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs for the top spot in the Atlantic Division and two-point edge over the third-place Tampa Bay Lightning with 10 games left in the regular season. The sprint to the finish continues at 1 p.m. Sunday when Florida closes its three-game homestand against the Montreal Canadiens (33-30-9), one of nine games over this 10-game stretch against teams still in the hunt for a postseason berth (including two more with Toronto and one with Tampa).
Marchand will be a critical player for Florida as it finishes this slate and attempts to repeat as Stanley Cup champions — and he’s ready to see what this final push has in store.
“It’s not often that you get to be part of a group like this,” said Marchand, who won a Stanley Cup in 2011 with Boston and been to the playoffs in 12 of his first 15 NHL seasons. “I’ve been on a lot of teams throughout the years, and you know when you have something special. You know when you walk into a special room. That’s what they have here, and it’s what you want to be part of. There’s not many teams that are legit contenders each year. When you walk in the room, the way they walk about the game, the way they talk about working and competing, there’s a reason why they’re as good as they are.”
Marchand saw just how good Florida was first-hand over the past two years. The Panthers eliminated his Bruins from the playoffs each of the past two seasons, first in an epic seven-game series to open the 2023 playoffs to begin a magical run to the Cup Final and then in six games last season in Round 2 on the way to winning their first Cup. He knows the scrappy, aggressive, in-your-face style that coach Paul Maurice demands, and it’s a style that fits his game perfectly.
He had spent the past three weeks getting acclimated to the systems, a stretch that occurred more by circumstance than desire. Marchand sustained an upper-body injury on March 1 while playing for Boston against the Pittsburgh Penguins, which sidelined him for four weeks. So instead of jumping right into action with his new team after being traded, Marchand had to bide his time.
“It’s tough,” Marchand said of having to wait to make his debut. “You want to be with the group right away. It’s the best way to build chemistry, build relationships and find your game on the ice with the group. It’s tough when you’re out and the team’s traveling and my schedule was different than the groups. I was just trying to spend as much time with the team as I could. The coaching staff has been awesome. They brought me in for all the meetings and pregames to just kind of get accustomed to the way they did things around here, which definitely helped me feel more comfortable coming in.”
That comfort showed on the ice. He played on Florida’s second line with Bennett, with whom he played three games for team Canada during the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, and rookie winger Mackie Samoskevich while also getting time on the Panthers’ second power-play unit.
In the 16-and-a-half minutes that Marchand was on the ice, Florida outshot opponents 11-1 and had an 11-5 edge in scoring chances against Utah, according to the advanced hockey statistics website Natural Stat Trick. He had four shots on goal, two hits and two blocked shots in addition to his assist on the game-winning overtime goal.
“You know how tenacious this guy is, how physical he is, how hard he plays,” Maurice said. “Then you get him in practice and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, he’s got hands on him.’ And you start to realize how good the skill level is there.”
Having another player of that skill level is a boon for Maurice and the Panthers as the playoffs approach. Marchand will likely stay on that second line with Bennett down the stretch, and Matthew Tkachuk would logically slot in with that duo as well when he returns from his lower-body injury sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off. A move up to the top power play could come as well.
“That’s going to be our challenge, right? We’re going to have options,’’ Maurice said.
They’ll worry about those challenges as they come. For now, Marchand’s focus is continuing to get acclimated to his new team to put himself and them in the best position to
Friday was a good start.
“Every day that goes by, I’m feeling much more comfortable and much more a part of the group,” Marchand said. “And when you play and you’re in everything day to day, it definitely helps that happen quicker. So, yeah, I’m excited to continue to build with the group here.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2025 at 8:47 AM.
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