- Brad Marchand chirped William Nylander in the comments of an NHL Instagram post
- Marchand is coming off offseason surgery that has his own opener in doubt
- Read below for the full comment and when the Panthers and Leafs meet
Brad Marchand does not need a rink to get after somebody.
The NHL’s Instagram account posted a photo Tuesday of William Nylander grinding through dumbbell curls poolside, captioned “Players have been getting in those reps during the offseason!” Marchand scrolled past it, then stopped and typed one line into the comments.
“Don’t hurt yourself with all that weight willy,” the Panthers forward wrote.
Take a look at the post that set him off:
Nylander is shirtless in the shot, hair everywhere, curling a pair of loaded dumbbells while standing on a Bosu ball with a hillside and a swimming pool behind him. It is a very Nylander photo, which is probably why Marchand could not leave it alone.
There is history here, too. Marchand spent 15 seasons in Boston, where knocking Toronto out of the playoffs turned into a semi-annual tradition, and he chirped the Leafs the entire time.
His own summer has been rougher than Nylander’s. Marchand said in a video posted earlier this month that he had been trying to treat a lingering lower-body issue without surgery, then had to go under the knife at the last minute, which puts his availability for Florida’s opener in question.
Marchand turned 38 in May and still put up 27 goals and 54 points in 52 games last season before the injury ended his year early. Nylander, eight years younger, finished with 30 goals and 79 points in 65 games.
Florida opens the season Sept. 29 in Carolina against the defending champs. Marchand gets his first live look at Nylander on Dec. 3 at Scotiabank Arena, assuming he is healthy enough to be in the lineup for it.
