Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins: Is Brad Marchand playing?

NHL fans were left stunned when longtime Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand was dealt to the Florida Panthers ahead of last Friday’s NHL trade deadline.

Marchand, 36, had played his entire 16-year career with Boston, where he won the 2011 Stanley Cup and served as team captain since 2023. He now joins the reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers, who have become fierce conference rivals with the Bruins having knocked them out of the playoffs each of the last two seasons.

Marchand is currently recovering from an upper body injury suffered against the Pittsbugh Penguins on March 1 and will not play against his former team when the Panthers and Bruins face off on Tuesday night (7 PM ET on NESN, Scripps).

The new Panthers winger will likely make his team debut in the coming weeks ahead of what Florida hopes is another deep Stanley Cup playoff run. The Panthers are currently +500 favorites to win the 2025 Stanley Cup, edging out Dallas (+600), Edmonton (+800) and Colorado (+800).

Florida (40-21-3) enters Tuesday night riding a six-game win streak and top of the Atlantic Division. Boston (29-28-8) is on pace for its worst season in over a decade, and is a +900 shot to reach the NHL playoffs.

The Bruins fired head coach Jim Montgomery in November 2024 after an 8-9-3 start, and have gone 21-19-5 under replacement Joe Sacco.

Boston is less than two seasons removed from the best regular season in NHL history in 2022/23, when they broke the all-time record for points (135) and wins (62) in a season. They entered the 2023 playoffs as Stanley Cup favorites but lost in the first round via a Game 7 overtime winner against Florida after blowing a 3-1 series lead.

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Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.

David Schneidman

• Boston Bruins
• Florida Panthers
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