Everybody kind of knew Brad Marchand’s impact would be immediate and noteworthy with the Florida Panthers.
That’s exactly what happened on Friday night as Marchand fed Sam Bennett for the overtime game-winner for a Florida hockey club sitting just a point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Atlantic Division lead. The Marchand contribution reminded everybody that the Panthers are primed to make all kinds of noise again in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Brad Marchand sets up Sam Bennett for the OT WINNER in his debut 🫡 pic.twitter.com/fp00JLJ1Xe
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 29, 2025
The play also brings into focus just how likely the Bruins are to get the 2028 Florida first-round pick in the Marchand trade, as it’s really hard to see any scenario where A) the Panthers won’t win at least two playoff rounds and B) that Marchand is going to play in less than 50 percent of those games now that he’s healthy again.
The Marchand-to-Bennett connection was something that first kicked up during the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament when both players were suiting for Team Canada, an interesting, immediate chemistry given that Bennett knocked Marchand out of last spring’s Stanley Cup playoffs with a sneaky punch to the head.
But there were no hard feelings in the aftermath of that nasty incident, and a pretty easy chemistry between a pair of hard-nosed, physical players that approach hockey in very similar fashions.
“Sometimes that’s just the way it works out,’’ said Bennett. “You can be rivals and enemies one day, and as soon as you put on that jersey and play for the same cause, everything is washed away. You’re instantly great friends and teammates that are looking to win together.’’
Marchand summed up their connection a little more basically.
Brad Marchand still thinks his new teammate Sam Bennett is a ‘scumbag’ 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/0o8yuqgfLh
— JayOnSC (@JayOnSC) March 12, 2025
Marchand’s sizeable impact with the Panthers wasn’t just on the ice, but off the ice as well. Cameras caught Sasha Barkov laughing next to him on the bench during Friday’s game and he explained what that was all about following the game.
Barky all smiles with Marchand 😁 pic.twitter.com/j8RFRWGHVJ
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 29, 2025
“I realized I heard this many times from one Boston player, but now I hear this from my own teammate," said Barkov. "When they announced Marchand in the starting lineup, you're just sitting there and thinking, is this real? You just battled against him, and now, all of a sudden, you're his teammate. It’s crazy, but it was awesome.”
Certainly, it will still be an adjustment for a player who logged 1,090 NHL games as a member of the Boston Bruins before suiting up for their rivals for the first time this weekend.
“It was still different today,” said Marchand, who had been out since March 1 with a shoulder injury. “Every day that goes by, I feel a lot more comfortable, a lot more a part of the group. When you play, and you’re in everything day-to-day, it definitely helps that go quicker. I am excited to continue to build with the group here.”
After the victory was in the books, Marchand also fittingly grabbed a couple of the rubber rats, souvenirs for his kids, that were raining down on the ice.
Brad Marchand collecting rats after setting up the game winning goal in OT 🐀 pic.twitter.com/euT8NZQoJa
— Katie Engleson (@KatieEngleson) March 29, 2025
“It was one of the things my kids said right away, they asked about the rats,” said Marchand after his Panthers debut. “I was like ‘I don’t know when it happens, but if it does, I will grab a couple.’ So, I did.”
It all brings to mind the legendary Bob Lobel, who famously said over and over in these situations, ‘why don’t we get players like that?’
ONE-TIMERS
*It was good to see Charlie McAvoy skating with the Boston Bruins during their recent road trip after being sidelined since the 4 Nations Faceoff with a shoulder injury suffered during the tournament. An infection and a “significant” AC joint injury are likely to sideline McAvoy for the rest of this season, and that was probably the biggest impetus behind the Black and Gold fire sale that took place at the NHL trade deadline.
Now McAvoy is at least back on the ice doing some practice work and was a presence for a Bruins hockey club that’s been going through some stuff on the road. And, the B’s defenseman, as one of the team leaders is grappling with watching Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo, Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau all get shipped out while McAvoy, David Pastrnak and other veteran B’s like Morgan Geekie are left behind to carry on the leadership for a hockey team sinking deep in the standings.
🎥 Charlie McAvoy on being back with the #NHLBruins for practice: "It’s been a lot, it’s tough. We’re out the other side now. Just happy to be here...I wish a lot of things would have been different here down the stretch, I really do. It hasn’t been the easiest." pic.twitter.com/ijBLeA1ggg
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 25, 2025
"It’s been a lot, it’s tough,” said McAvoy. “We’re out the other side now. Just happy to be here...I wish a lot of things would have been different here down the stretch, I really do. It hasn’t been the easiest.
“[The trade deadline] was not fun. It was a really tough day on a lot of different fronts…there’s another aspect to this game that has nothing to do with on the ice and that’s the friendships of it and the relationships, and the reality of it is I’ve been here for a while now and a lot of my friends are no longer here.”
The good news is that McAvoy wants to be part of the solution in Boston and knows that it’s going to be a challenging road back to building things where they have been in the past, and where the alternate captain wants them to be again.
“Moving forward, it’s probably our most important objective is how we get it back and what we’re gonna do and how we’re gonna leave it better than we found it,” said McAvoy. “We’ve certainly got some work to do on that front.
“But it’s a challenge that you’re so fortunate to have because I know both of us know what it means to be a Boston Bruin and know what it looks like and what it feels like to be a part of the teams that are the winning teams, the special teams. It’s right there, we’ve just got to get it back.”
*As the Bruins continue to sink down in the standings having lost eight games in a row, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney is on the road scouting players that are likely going to be in Boston’s sights for a top-10 first-round pick. According to the WHL game broadcast, Sweeney was in attendance at Lethbridge watching 18-year-old Brandon Wheat Kings center Roger McQueen.
If Roger McQueen played the whole year, he would be going 1st overall. pic.twitter.com/2Osl2v0857
— World Hockey Report (@worldhockeyrpt) March 23, 2025
The 6-foot-5, 193-pound right-shot center has been injured with a lower-body issue for much of this season, but had 10 goals and 20 points in 17 games this season after posting 21 goals and 51 points in 53 games last season as a big-bodied pivot. The good news is that there are definitely some other names to consider if the Bruins are targeting a No. 1 center with their pick: Michael Misa, Caleb Desnoyers, James Hagens and a number of others expected to be top-10 first rounders in June.