Key Takeaways
- Brad Marchand signed a six-year, $31.5M deal with the Panthers, but Utah Mammoth were ready to outbid with up to $10M AAV.
- The Boston Bruins were also in the mix but unwilling to go beyond a four-year term.
- Utah is expected to remain aggressive, with potential big moves coming via free agency or the trade market.
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.”
