No Playoffs for Panthers, But Brad Marchand Had a Year to Remember
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images FORT LAUDERDALE — Brad Marchand made headlines during the Florida Panthers end-of-season meeting with the media almost two weeks ago when he said he would “rather miss the playoffs than lose in the Final. ’’ Either way, Marchand surmised, “you don’t win. There’s one winner, and everyone else is a loser.
’’ Since joining the Panthers last March, he did not do a lot of losing. Before the Panthers’ season started to unravel in January, it looked like Florida may be able to survive some early injuries and make a run at a three-peat as Stanley Cup champions. Yet, things did unravel and the team fell out of contention by the time Marchand and a bunch of his teammates flew to Milan for the Winter Olympics in February.
And, he wishes things worked out a little different. “It was disappointing the way the year played out,’’ Marchand said. “But you definitely learn something about your group every year, regardless of how it goes.
I love the mindset of the guys every single day. “We were fighting an uphill battle with everything the team had been going through. … It didn’t go our way, and there was a ton of adversity, but I loved how we stuck together as a group.
’’ Despite how things ended, Marchand ended up having a pretty good year. On March 7, 2025, the Panthers acquired the Boston Bruins’ captain for what turned out to be a first-round pick in 2028. Although Marchand was injured at the time of the trade, he joined the team for the final 10 games of the regular season and, well, worked to figure things out.