HIGHLIGHTS
- Brad Marchand is returning to the Panthers
- Florida is set to sign the veteran to a 6-year deal
- Read below for the full story
The Florida Panthers are bringing back one of their trade deadline acquisitions.
Brad Marchand, who came over from the Boston Bruins late in the season, is set to sign a six-year extension with the Cats worth just under $32 million. Via Elliotte Friedman:
The Panthers also re-signed Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad. Marchand was an important piece they wanted to lock down, and he’s now around for the foreseeable future. While the star didn’t play a ton in the regular season after rehabbing from an injury post-trade, he shone en route to a Stanley Cup title.
Marchand registered 20 points in the playoffs, including 10 goals. Marchand destroyed the Toronto Maple Leafs in the conference semifinals before netting five times in the Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers. Florida took them down in just six games.
Despite being 37, Marchand has shown no signs of slowing down. He’s still producing at an extremely high level, and he’s been a massive addition to this Cats locker room as well. There’s no doubt Marchand could’ve likely earned more money elsewhere, but instead, he’s decided to stay put and chase another Cup with a franchise that is developing into a modern-day dynasty.
This deal comes just a day before Marchand would’ve become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. A lot of teams have a core of three or four players to rely on, but the Panthers have a lot more than that. Marchand, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Seth Jones, Ekblad, Carter Verhaeghe, and Sam Reinhart are all around for the long haul.
Florida will be a scary team once again in 2025-26 as they eye a three-peat. It will be very interesting to see just how much damage Marchand can do in a full season with the Cats.
