Okay, so I never thought I'd see Brad Marchand playing in anything other than a Boston Bruins uniform. But that changed on Friday when the Bruins sent him to the Florida Panthers. Yep, and in the process, Marchand will now technically be his former team’s division rival.
In what was supposed to be another strong season for the Bruins, things didn’t turn out that way and they went south quickly. The Bruins went from being projected buyers at the trade deadline to sellers, and that became official when they traded Trent Frederic to the Edmonton Oilers.
Now, Marchand will leave the team and city he called home for 16 seasons. At the time of the trade, Marchand was second in points behind only David Pastrnak with 47 and 21 goals over 61 contests. With his career in twilight mode, Marchand wouldn’t mind winning one more Stanley Cup, and Florida put itself in position to get one.
Florida Panthers are primed to win another Stanley Cup with Brad Marchand
As the postseason approaches, the Panthers needed to find a way to make things work without their star player, Matthew Tkachuk. Acquiring defenseman Seth Jones was a step in the right direction, but this team needed more if they were to provide insurance for Tkachuk.
Well, they got one now in Marchand, who can immediately step in and bring both experience and productivity to the Panthers. It’s similar to what we saw last season when the Panthers brought in Vladimir Tarasenko to help fuel the run to their first-ever Stanley Cup Championship, so history is on the verge of repeating itself.
If this team avoids injury and can get Tkachuk back for the playoffs, who knows what kind of damage they’ll inflict in the postseason. It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw them sweep a couple of opponents, likely division rivals, en route to the Eastern Conference Final. And I don’t envy the team they’ll be facing.
NHL fans will have a lot of fun watching the Florida Panthers
Say what you will about this team playing out of Sunrise, Florida, but the Panthers have shown sheer consistency once again with a 39-21-3 record, good for 81 points. At the moment, they trail the Washington Capitals by seven points, but they have more than a deep enough team to close the gap rather quickly.
One late-season surge from the Panthers and a skid from the Caps, who strengthened their own lineup in a trade for Anthony Beauvillier, could quickly turn the tables. With Brad Marchand and Seth Jones in town, it could easily become a reality.