Florida Panthers' Paul Maurice Provides Promising Brad Marchand Update

At the 2025 NHL trade deadline, the Florida Panthers acquired Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins. Marchand has yet to make his debut with the Panthers, as the 36-year-old winger is currently sidelined with an upper-body injury.

While speaking with reporters, including NHL.com's Tom Gulitti, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice shared that Marchand could be ready to return to game action as soon as next week.

Maurice on Panthers injured guys (Tkachuk, Marchand, Kulikov):

"Nothing’s really changed. Brad’s back on the ice and skating hard now. So maybe another week, early April, possibly late March. That’s all on the trainers, but everybody’s kind of right where they’re supposed to be"
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) March 22, 2025

Marchand, 36, last played on March 1 when the Bruins faced off against the Pittsburgh Penguins. During this matchup, Marchand was injured after receiving an awkward hit from Penguins defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph. It has been a long recovery process for the veteran forward, but with this update from Maurice, it appears that he is quite close to making his debut with Florida.

Marchand is expected to be a big part of the Panthers' roster as they look to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. In 61 games this season with the Bruins before the trade, the Halifax, Nova Scotia native had 21 goals, 26 assists, 47 points, and a minus-8 rating.

It will now be fascinating to see if Marchand ends up being 100% and is given the green light by next week from here. Once he is good to return to game action, it will certainly take time for hockey fans to get used to seeing him in a Panthers sweater.