This is a hard goodbye for the Boston Bruins and for fans here in New England, as a legend heads south for Florida.
As part of a flurry of trade deadline deals Friday, the Bruins traded captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a conditional 2027 second round pick that could become a 2027 or 2028 first round pick if Florida wins two rounds of this year’s playoffs and Marchand appears in at least 50% of their games.
The trade came as a bit of a surprise, as there hadn’t been any rumors linking Marchand to the Panthers recently. And Florida has been a major rival to Boston, knocking them out of the playoffs in the last two seasons.
Marchand and the Bruins had been having issues coming to an agreement on a new contract, and the 36-year-old had been in and out of the lineup lately with an injury.
But he is no doubt a Boston legend who famously helped the Bruins with a Stanley Cup in 2011 over the Vancouver Canucks, ending a 39-year championship drought for the team.
Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney addressed his trade deadline activity on Friday.
“Professionally, it’s making some very difficult decisions,” he said. “We want to wish each and every one of them well. And then we had to make a really difficult decision to say, ‘Well, let’s give Brad another opportunity with a really good team and then he can make his best decision as to what is best moving forward.'”
The newly-reconfigured Bruins play the Lightning in Tampa on Saturday, and are set to face off against Florida at the TD Garden on Tuesday, which could be the first time that Marchand plays against his former team as a Panther.
