Panthers thrilled to have Marchand on their side after trade from Bruins

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Nate Schmidt left the ice at the Florida Panthers’ practice facility Saturday morning with a huge smile on his face.

The defenseman knew everyone wanted to ask him about now-former Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand joining the Panthers after a plethora of intense battles in the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past two years.

“Marchand playing with these guys? Absolute chaos,” Schmidt said.

The Panthers acquired the forward from the Bruins just before the NHL Trade Deadline at 3 p.m. ET Friday, sending a conditional second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft to Boston.

It was a trade that shook the hockey world. Marchand and the Panthers?

Really?

“It’s exciting, and a bit of a surprise for the coaches, anyway,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “We’re very excited about the idea.”

Marchand will not play for the Panthers right away, with general manager Bill Zito reiterating the Bruins’ timeline of “week to week” after Marchand sustained an upper-body injury in the first period of Boston’s 3-2 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 1.

The 36-year-old has 47 points (21 goals, 26 assists) in 61 games this season.

“He will come in here and we’ll get our doctors to look at him to get an understanding of what the injury is,” Maurice said.

Marchand and Florida share a long history. After all, he’s played against the Panthers 53 times during the regular season since arriving in the NHL during the 2009-10 season.

He was, before being traded, the longest-tenured Bruins player, spending 16 seasons in Boston and playing 1,090 regular-season games and another 157 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was during the postseason when things between the Panthers and Marchand really escalated.

In the 2023 Eastern Conference First Round, the heavily-favored Bruins took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series, only to see the Panthers storm back and win Game 7 in overtime at TD Garden in Boston. The Bruins entered that series off the best regular season in NHL history, finishing with 65 wins and 135 points.

Florida went on to lose to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final.

A.J. Greer, who was part of that Bruins team and is now in his first season with the Panthers, said his new teammates are going to love Marchand.

“Everyone is excited -- he is an amazing person, and a great player who brings out the best in everyone every day,’’ Greer said. “He is a competitor, and whether it is in practice or in games, he always seems to elevate everyone around him.

“He is going to complement this group really well. He is one of my really good friends, and I just can’t wait to hug him and joke around with him. Such an awesome guy to have day-in and day-out.”

Last season, the Panthers and Bruins rekindled their rivalry in the second round of the playoffs. Florida was the favorite and ended up eliminating Boston in six games.

The series took a turn in Game 3 when a controversial hit by Sam Bennett on Marchand caused the latter to miss the next two games with an upper-body injury.

Bennett did not receive any supplementary discipline on the play, but Marchand later said that Bennett “got away with one.”

Florida went on to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history and opened its defense this season against Boston, a 6-4 victory at Amerant Bank Arena on Oct. 8. The Panthers then defeated the Bruins 4-3 at TD Garden six days later.

One of the storylines during the 4 Nations Face-Off last month was the relationship between Bennett and Marchand, who were teammates for Canada. The two seemed to get along well, with coach Jon Cooper putting them together on the same line.

Canada won the best-on-best tournament with Bennett, Marchand, and Florida forward Sam Reinhart.

“Brad Marchand comes in here, and there’s a history with the Florida Panthers,” Maurice said. “But there’s a great history because he, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart played on a team together that had great success.

“There’s an instant connection in our room when he comes in. I think those connections are vital when you start the playoffs.”

With those two putting old rivalries aside for the betterment of their team, speculation began that the Panthers may try to acquire Marchand if he was available at the Trade Deadline.

Maurice laughed when asked if that was a factor in pulling off the trade.

“I think it still happens, but we’re just not sure how our room is going to react,” Maurice said with a smile. “We won’t have to separate them. They won’t have to dress in separate rooms.”

Marchand won’t be available when the Panthers face the Bruins again in Boston on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, NESN, SN, TVAS), but Maurice said he is expected to travel with the team and will be in attendance.

“He is a winner, he won the Stanley Cup with Boston (in 2011) and has been a part of great teams every year,” Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said. “Everyone knows what kind of player and human he is.

“I am excited to have him on my side for once.”