Brad Marchand #63 of the Florida Panthers (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
If two-time Stanley Cup champion Brad Marchand hadn’t re-upped with the Florida Panthers on a six-year, $31.5 million ($5.2 million AAV) contract extension on Monday, then the Utah Mammoth were ready to show him the money.
“Utah was ready to beat any offer for Marchand,” an NHL source told RG on Tuesday night. “I was told $9.5–10 million cap hit per season. I know Marchand was starting at four years with the Panthers and planned to do the same if he hit the market. So, it had to be at least that if he got there.”
According to this source, as of mid-Monday afternoon, there was also still a chance the two-time Stanley Cup champion could wind up closing out his career with the Boston Bruins after being traded to the Florida Panthers at the 2025 NHL trade deadline.
“He has not ruled the Bruins out yet, but they will need to beat the Panthers’ offer, which I was told earlier today was a four-year, $32 million ($8 million AAV) contract,” the source told RG Media early Monday afternoon, before he signed an extension with the Panthers.
The source later confirmed that the $32 million total was already agreed to, and then obviously both sides met in the middle, exchanging term for AAV.
“I don’t know if Marchand ever considered still waiting until Tuesday to see if the Bruins would match, because it’s been known they weren’t going past four years,” the source later told RG.
“I think once [Aaron] Ekblad signed, then [Bill] Zito and Marchand’s camp just zeroed in, and that was obviously it.”
As for the Mammoth, there’s still a belief that they will go big-game hunting in free agency and on the NHL trade market.
“I really think they make a splash—maybe in free agency and via a trade,” the source told RG. “They’re taking it to the next level.”
With 24 years of experience (SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, ESPN Boston, NESN, NHL.com, etc.) covering the Bruins, the NHL, NCAA and junior hockey, and more, Jimmy Murphy’s hockey black book is filled with Hall of Famers, current players, coaches, management, scouts and a wide array of hockey media personalities that have lived in and around this great game. For 22 of his 24 years as a hockey and sports reporter, Murphy covered the Bruins on a daily basis, including their victorious 2011 Stanley Cup run and their runs to the 2013 and 2019 Finals. Murphy is currently a co-host, along with Pierre McGuire, on The Eye Test Podcast.
