Brad Marchand: “Two guys probably would have been leaving” if Panthers weren’t in no-tax state
The Florida Panthers have certainly benefitted from operating in a no-tax state to keep the majority of their core intact during their recent run of success, and at this point, the players are well aware of it.
Entering the season with a new six-year contract with the Panthers, winger Brad Marchand was quite candid in talking about the Panthers’ contract situation with himself, center Sam Bennett and defenseman Aaron Ekblad, and how not all of them would have been back if the team wasn’t in a no-tax state.
Brad Marchand was very honest about his contract negotiations:
“Call it a spade of spade, if we were not in a non-tax state, it wouldn’t have worked out probably for two guys (him, Bennett, Ekblad). Two guys probably would have been leaving in that situation. So it’s a benefit…
“Call a spade a spade, if we were not in a non-tax state, it wouldn’t have worked out probably for two guys,” said Marchand during the Panthers’ season-opening press conference. “Two guys probably would have been leaving in that situation. So it’s a benefit that this team has, we were able to utilize and make work.”
Marchand, Bennett and Ekblad were all set to become unrestricted free agents and potentially hit the open market coming off of a Stanley Cup victory, as it didn’t appear that the Panthers would be able to keep all three of them based on the what they were expected to get in free agency.
However, all three ended up re-signing below their expected numbers. Marchand signed a six-year contract with a $5.25 million cap hit, Bennett signed an eight-year contract with an $8 million cap hit, and Ekblad signed an eight-year contract with a $6.1 million cap hit.
Marchand did add to his comments to avoid crediting the Panthers’ success entirely to being in a no-tax state, also mentioning that a lot of teams in no-tax states are also the best run teams in the league. While the Nashville Predators and Seattle Kraken haven’t had quite the same success as the other teams in this group, the Panthers are the back-to-back reigning Cup champions, the Vegas Golden Knights won in 2023, the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021 and 2022, and the Dallas Stars have made the Western Conference Final for three consecutive years, and four of the last six.