The Boston Bruins are trading captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers for an as yet to be confirmed return the club announced prior to the final bell ringing on NHL trade deadline day.
Reports seem to indicate that the return is a 2027 2nd round pick which can turn into a 1st rounder if certain conditions are met. Those conditions, for the time being, remain a mystery to most outside the Boston & Florida war rooms.
The soon to be 37 year old is in the final season of an 8 year deal signed with Boston, making him a free agent at season’s end. While there was a mutual desire between both player and club to get a deal done, talks ultimately fizzled out, making the veteran forward expendable on deadline day.
Currently sidelined by an upper body injury, Marchand is expected to make his return shortly before the Stanley Cup Playoffs kick off. The defending Stanley Cup champions have been one of the more active teams leading up to Friday, acquiring blue liner Seth Jones, goaltender Vitek Vanecek, and forward Nico Sturm amongst others.
Across 61 games for Boston this year, the Halifax, NS native has registered 21 goals, and 26 assists for 47 points. A Stanley Cup winner back in 2011, Marchand figures to play a middle-six role with the Panthers when he returns to the lineup later this spring.
His game is tailor suited for playoff hockey where he’s been nearly a point per game player (138 points across 157 games) throughout his career. His ability to get under opponents skin will also be something that helps to make the Panthers an even tougher out during the playoffs.
Florida is next in action on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres.
Photo: Sarah Connors. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.