‘He brings so much life to our team’: Panthers’ Brad Marchand continues to be the Maple Leafs’ playoff killer

May 11, 2025, 09:00 EDT

‘He brings so much life to our team’: Panthers’ Brad Marchand continues to be the Maple Leafs’ playoff killer

Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

SUNRISE – It might be weird seeing Brad Marchand in something other than a Florida Panthers jersey. But it doesn’t seem to matter what colors he’s wearing – he’s a Toronto Maple Leafs killer in the playoffs.

The 2011 Stanley Cup champion has faced Toronto in the playoffs four times prior to 2025, winning the series each time with the Bruins. In that span, he has 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points in 31 games. Now with the Panthers, the veteran winger has points in all three games, leading the team with four in that span.

Most importantly, he scored the game-winner in Game 3 to get the Panthers back in the series and avoid a potential sweep at home on Sunday. Given that Marchand missed a few weeks after the NHL Trade Deadline – and that he had played quietly throughout the remainder of the regular season – it was easy to discount the pesky winger. He had four points in five games in Round 1 against Tampa Bay, but two of them came in the deciding game. He’s now riding a five-game point streak, and sits tied with three others for the team lead in points overall.

But the reigning 4 Nations Face-Off gold medalist looks like his old self again. He’s still getting involved in the physical play, and he’s producing at his best rate in years.

“When you play against (players like Marchand), you hate them,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said on Friday. “They get under your skin and they try everything they can to do that. And at the same time, they are unbelievable players. So now that he’s on our side… I don’t want to say it’s a relief, but it’s really fun to watch.”

Panthers fans are known for throwing rats on the ice after a victory. Now, though, Marchand’s teammates launch them at him on the ice after wins, playing up the fact that many like to call him a rat. It’s a persona Marchand has embraced, and he’s enjoying his time in South Florida.

“It’s awesome,” Marchand said after Friday’s victory. “The group is incredible. And it’s a very easy group to feel at home with. One of the biggest things that I noticed when I came in here is the way that the guys work. And when you work that way, you have a lot of fun and you build a lot of unity together because of that.”

The Panthers seem to like having him around, too.

“He brings so much life to our team,” forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “And he’s so energetic. You see what he does on the ice. He’s such a great player and he’s been around for so long… I mean, yeah, not that long (laughs alongside Marchand). He’s a player, performer, and he scores big goals at big moments, and he’s done it all.”

Marchand is in the final year of an eight-season deal that he signed with Boston in 2017. It was crazy to think the Bruins would ever move on from him, but he hasn’t let his new opportunity go to waste. Despite turning 37 today, Marchand appears to be one of the top pending free agents this summer.

The Panthers are on the back foot though three games, trailing 2-1 to Toronto. Game 4 could be a totally different story, though. The Panthers finally have some momentum, and they won’t want to head back to Canada with a chance to lose in Toronto on Wednesday.

It’s not like Marchand needs any motivation to be a chaos machine. But, boy, you know he’ll take anything Toronto throws at him.

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‘He brings so much life to our team’: Panthers’ Brad Marchand continues to be the Maple Leafs’ playoff killer

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