SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers welcomed the arrival of Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand in a Friday trade that adds even more grit and experience to the roster of the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Marchand, dealt by the Bruins after 16 seasons in Boston, is joining a dogged team with stars Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell, and will give the Panthers more depth as they battle for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Marchand is another huge acquisition for the Panthers, who brought in veteran defenseman Seth Jones in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks last Saturday, and needed a boost after losing the veteran forward Tkachuk to an upper body injury that has him week to week.
A four-time All-Star, Marchand had 422 goals and 554 assists in Boston. He has 21 goals and 26 assists this season but has not played since leaving the Bruins’ March 1 game against Pittsburgh with an unspecified upper body injury. He is expected to miss a couple of weeks.
Florida, currently 39-21-3, seems primed for another deep postseason run. And with Marchand and Tkachuk — who has not played since last month’s 4 Nations tournament — likely back for the postseason it’ll do it with one of the scrappiest teams in the league.
Marchand is already very familiar with his new team, which knocked his Bruins out of the playoffs the past two seasons. During their second round series last year, Marchand took a shot to the head from Sam Bennett, another hard-nosed Panther.
“The more guys you take out, the more advantage your team has,” Marchand said at the time. “People don’t say that but that’s just a fact of the game. So every time you step on the ice, someone’s trying to hurt someone. That’s just how it goes in the playoffs.”
