March 11, 2025, 04:48 PM ET
BOSTON – Brad Marchand returned to TD Garden ice on Tuesday – this time in a Florida Panthers practice jersey, where the longtime Boston Bruins star is back in town for the first time since he was traded.
Although Marchand is injured and inactive in a match against his previous team, the 11-minute morning skating was his first opportunity to practice with his new teammate.
“There’s definitely a bit of something I have to go through here,” said Merchand, who played for Boston as a Canadian visitor in a four-country showdown last month. “I felt a bit about it. It still felt strange.”
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A four-time All-Star, short-handed and overtime goal for the playoffs, Merchand, a career leader for the Bruins, helped Boston acquire the Stanley Cup as a rookie, leading the original six franchise to a 65-win, 135-point NHL record in 2023.
However, as the Bruins lose eight of their nine games and are likely to miss the postseason for the first time since 2016, Marchand was traded to Florida on Friday, with the second round draft pick likely to be the first round when Marchand returns to the ice and helps the Panthers move forward in the playoffs.
Trade deadline sales mark the end of the franchise’s most successful era since Bobby Oh won two Stanley Cup titles in the 1970s.
Since this season, Merchand, who is eligible to become a free agent, was offered a contract extension, but the party failed to agree to the terms.
“I think they had the right intentions,” said Merchand. He is just below the hall from the locker room where he called his house for 16 seasons, wearing a Panthers hat and a T-shirt.
“They tried to do the best for the team and give me the opportunity to stay if I wanted to. And they are standing on the table they felt fair. But I understand that there might be a time when it might come to a certain reset and go in a different direction.
Brad Marchand skates at TD Garden for the first time since the Bruins’ deal with the Panthers, but he has not recovered from an upper body injury in Tuesday’s game. Steve Babineau/Nhli via Getty Images
Although Marchand has 21 goals and 26 assists this season, he has not played since leaving the March 1 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins due to an unspecified upper body injury.
Panthers manager Paul Maurice said that Marchandrevi is weekly with the goal of retrieving him at the end of the regular season.
“That was hope, it was kind of an idea,” Maurice said. “We wanted him to get on the ice and move the puck just to see where he was. That was positive.”
Maurice said he likes what he sees from Merchand, a suspended gadfly who gained a reputation as a troublemaker before maturing to his role as the Bruins captain over the past two seasons. The Panthers coach wants him to be himself and not try to change it to suit the defending championship roster, which already includes leaders such as Alexander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad and Matthew Tokachuk.
“We have a lot of different personalities. It’s not all the same guy,” Maurice said. “But it makes it fun. So it brings your own personality. Be sure to be who you are. Don’t try to be someone you are, because that’s not what we traded.
“If it’s funny, make it interesting. If it’s not, just sit and laugh. Whatever you are, be yourself.
Marchand said he doesn’t feel obligated to be the vocal leader for his new team. But on the other hand, he is not going to tone down his candid style.
“Why am I doing that? I think it’s just me. I can’t do it anyway,” said Marchand. “Do you think I need to tone down that? My wife will.
“So, yeah. I’m just going to be me.”
