Florida's blockbuster trade deadline swap for Brad Marchand is proving to pay the biggest dividends on the NHL's biggest stage.
The Florida Panthers keep figuring ways to turn their already great roster into a juggernaut. This season, they're making their third consecutive appearance in the Stanley Cup Final and defending their 2024 title from the team they beat to claim it — the Edmonton Oilers.
On Friday, Florida entered Game 2 behind in the series after Edmonton snagged the first contest with a Leon Draisaitl overtime winner. The Panthers flipped the script and evened the series with a double-overtime game-winning goal of their own from new acquisition Brad Marchand.
The long-time Boston Bruin snuck the puck between Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner's legs just over eight minutes into the second overtime to end the contest with a 5-4 score. It was Marchand's second tally of the game, adding yet more evidence to his compelling case for being the most valuable acquisition at the NHL trade deadline.
Brad Marchand's 2OT Stanley Cup Final winner proves Florida Panthers won the 2025 NHL trade deadline
Florida general manager Bill Zito knows how to build a team. Last year he landed Kyle Okposo and Vladimir Tarasenko at the deadline, both proving to be valuable depth additions in the team's successful quest to lift its first-ever Stanley Cup. The previous campaign saw Zito stand pat with his roster at the deadline and the Panthers still made the final.
Landing Marchand this season looks to be shaping up as the most consequential move in franchise history. He's contributed 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 19 games in the playoffs. That's significant production and just five points short of his career-best (23 in 2019).
History could be on Florida's side having Marchand wearing its sweater in the final. "The Rat," as he's affectionately called, scored a shorthanded goal during the 2011 Stanley Cup Final - a series he and the Bruins eventually won. His first goal on Friday night was also a shorty.
Marchand could be the key to Florida lifting its second consecutive Stanley Cup given his playoff and final experience. The Panthers would be the first team since the 2020-21 Tampa Bay Lightning to go back-to-back and the third franchise in the last quarter century to do so.
