Can Brad Marchand keep his form in first full season with Panthers?
With so many questions surrounding the Florida Panthers heading into the 2025-26 season, many wonder if the team has enough juice to make another deep run with so many key players out due to injury.
With captain Aleksander Barkov out of action for the regular season, and possibly the entire year, and Matthew Tkachuk being out of commission through December, a lot of players are going to have to pull a little more weight, including veteran forward Brad Marchand.
Marchand came to the Panthers from the Boston Bruins right before the final bell of last year’s Trade Deadline. It ultimately paid dividends, as Marchand played at a Conn Smythe-worthy level, scoring 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points. The Nova Scotian played a huge role in helping the Cats win a second straight Stanley Cup.
However, despite having a new six-year contract under his belt, many wonder if Marchand can maintain his high level of play for a full 82-game season at the age of 37.
On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss what the expectations are for Marchand heading into his first full season in Florida.
Tyler Yaremchuk: That regular season with Boston, he was taking a bit of a step back, and he got rejuvenated by going to Florida, and maybe that rolls into, again, his 37-year-old season. What are you getting out of 37-year-old Brad Marchand? Because I’m not sure it’s 60-70 points. I think it might be 45-50 points.
Carter Hutton: I agree….he’s coming off a season where he had a ton of surgeries. He was very behind the ball. When he was dealt out of Boston, we weren’t even sure what we were going to see from him. He had this rejuvenated run. There was that mix, where you’re playing on emotion, you’re playing on adrenaline during that Stanley Cup run for Brad Marchand, to think that, this is his last kick at the can. So, now, to sign the six-year contract and be expected to come in and play well without Barkov, it’s going to be a bit of a challenge.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…