‘Enjoy him on this side of things’: Florida Panthers embrace former foe Brad Marchand

Florida Panthers' Brad Marchand (63) protects the puck from Toronto Maple Leafs' Scott Laughton (24) during first period NHL playoff hockey action in Toronto on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

FORT LAUDERDALE — Nate Schmidt smiled and let out a little sigh.

The Florida Panthers defenceman then gave a cheeky, side-eyed glance.

“I had a lot different things to say to you three months ago,” Schmidt eventually replied when asked what it’s been like getting to know and playing alongside Brad Marchand.

“He’s great,” the veteran blueliner continued. “Really enjoy him on this side of things.”

Acquired from the Boston Bruins at the trade-deadline buzzer back in March, the feisty Marchand has made a career out of filling the net and antagonizing opponents.

The 37-year-old has toned things down a bit in the latter stages of his career, but there have still been moments.

Marchand and Schmidt clashed earlier this season — the former jumped his now-teammate — in Boston during a heated exchange with Bruins star David Pastrnak.

“We had to squash that,” Schmidt, 33, joked Friday morning as the Panthers prepared for Game 6 of their second-round playoff series with a chance to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“He’s a good energy in the room … it’s fun to have another guy to bounce off the walls with.”

Marchand has also turned back the clock in these playoffs. The Halifax product had two goals and two assists entering Friday, including the overtime winner in Game 3 against Toronto with his team in danger of falling into a 3-0 hole.

“The biggest thing with this group is everyone trusts in each other to do their job,” Marchand said. “And we have that trust in ourselves.”

He left a mark on Game 5 by putting Leafs winger William Nylander in a headlock and then getting into a verbal sparring match with a couple of Toronto fans as he headed off in the ice in Wednesday’s 6-1 victory that put his Panthers up 3-2 in the series with a third straight victory.

“A little love,” Marchand said with a smile of the back-and-forth. “That’s all it was.”

The former Boston captain has a lot of recent history with Florida.

Those teams met in the first round of the 2023 playoffs when the Bruins’ record-setting roster led 3-1 before the Panthers roared back to take the hard-fought matchup in seven games.

The Atlantic Division heavyweights clashed again in the second round 12 months ago — Florida centre Sam Bennett delivered a sneaky punch on Marchand that forced him out of the series for two games — before the Panthers won in six.

Florida head coach Paul Maurice didn’t have much contact with Marchand until that first Boston clash. One interview stuck with him.

“He handled it so well,” said the veteran bench boss. “I was really, really impressed with his answers. He wasn’t trying to be funny, wasn’t taking shots. It was nasty in that series. And he was like, ‘They’re playing hard, we’re playing hard.’

“All of his quotes, I thought, were captain stuff — great leadership. He could stand in front of both rooms and have given those answers, and everybody would have went, ‘Yeah, that’s right. That’s exactly what’s happening.’”

Schmidt said former foes that have gone to battle have to bury the hatchet.

“Usually try and find some common ground,” Schmidt said. “(Marchand) and I are big outdoorsy guys, so it was kind of nice to be able to sit and chat.

“And start to slowly erode away at all the things that happened over your career.”

Maurice said he’s never seen teammates unable to sort out previous issues.

“The handshake at the end of a series is real,” he said. “They probably don’t like each other, and that moment is very heated, but they still find a way.

“There is a respect.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press