Trading Brad Marchand was always on the table for the Bruins. But trading him to a recent playoff rival who he has history with came as a bit of a surprise.

We are looking forward to buckling down and moving forward to focus on being the best team we can be and going as far as we can go.’

Nashville Predators head coach Andrew Brunette reacted to the hit captain Roman Josi took from Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett, complaining to the NHL officials.

With Tkachuk likely on long-term injured reserve for the remainder of the regular season, Florida strengthened its defense by acquiring Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks on March 1. By following that up with the addition of Marchand, the Panthers are signaling that they are again the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.

The Florida Panthers welcomed the arrival of Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand in a Friday trade that adds even more grit and experience to the Stanley Cup champions’ roster.

The Panthers will be universally hated now in the respected manner the best teams with swaggering skill set are. When’s the last time South Florida had a winner like that? The Big Three of the

Vanecek becomes the third goaltender in Panthers history to log a shutout in his franchise debut. The others: Chris Driedger against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 30, 2019, and Jose Theodore against the New York Islanders on Oct. 8, 2011.

Marchand will not play for the Panthers right away, with general manager Bill Zito reiterating the Bruins’ timeline of “week to week” after Marchand sustained an upper-body injury in the first period of Boston’s 3-2 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 1.

With the NHL’s trade deadline now in the rearview mirror, we’re going to pinpoint below the league’s teams that are shaping up as true Stanley Cup contenders. In alphabetical order: