Florida Panthers Go All-In For Stanley Cup Repeat With Marchand, Jones Acquisitions

“If we have this opportunity now, and then we have the opportunity to get better and improve, it’s a decision that you make,” Zito said.

FORT LAUDERDALE — Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito has been no stranger to making big moves to win at all costs. And he made yet another splash to acquire Brad Marchand ahead of Friday afternoon’s trade deadline as the Panthers hunt for their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Zito knows the window to win is now, and he made he moves to make it happen.

In the span of a week, the Panthers added a bonafide star defenseman and one of the NHL’s most talented power forwards to a core that won the Stanley Cup last season.

“If we have this opportunity now, and then we have the opportunity to get better and improve, it’s a decision that you make.”

After already reeling in a big fish from the Chicago Blackhawks in Seth Jones, the Panthers landed Marchand from the Boston Bruins in exchange for a conditional 2027 second-round pick. That pick would become a first-rounder in 2028 if Marchand plays in 50 percent of Florida’s playoff games and they advance past the second round of the playoffs.

Marchand will not be available for the Panthers right away — he is expected to miss “a couple weeks,” with an upper-body injury he sustained on March 1 — but they certainly know what they are getting when he comes back.

Florida has played against (and knocked out) Marchand’s Bruins in the playoffs the past two seasons, and they’ve been pinned against him as a division rival for much longer than that.

The ex-Boston captain has 422 goals and 976 points in 1090 regular games in his career. That includes 21 goals and 47 points in 61 games this season.

Marchand has 56 goals and 138 points in 157 career playoff games. He helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011, scoring 11 goals and 19 points in 25 playoff games in the first playoff run of his career.

“He might be one of the top guys, too,” Zito said of adding the 36-year-old star to a forward group that already features Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk, among many others. “If you watched the 4 Nations [Face-Off,] he was pretty effective. We think he’s got some gas in the tank.

“He’s a dynamic player. He’s got a multi-faceted attack. Whether it’s his skating, his grit his skills, his hockey sense, his will to win, his compete.”

The Panthers built a roster that is built with or without Tkachuk, who is currently on long-term injured reserve with an apparent groin injury. Zito did not have an update on when Tkachuk will be available, although it is all but confirmed that he will miss the rest of the regular season.

“The best I can say is I hope so,” he said when asked if Tkachuk will be ready for the playoffs. “I’m not being coy, I don’t know.”

Zito got to know Marchand well while representing former Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask as an agent, and he knows adding Marchand the person to Florida’s locker room is just as important.

“He is a fun guy, and the guy you see on the ice is the guy that he is,” Zito said. “So, we’re really looking forward to adding him to our mix and I think he fits in.”

Jones and Marchand were not the only key acquisitions the Panthers made.

Zito made two separate trades with the San Jose Sharks earlier in the week, acquiring back-up goaltender Vitek Vanecek and depth forward Nico Sturm for a package totaling prospect Patrick Giles and a 2026 fourth-round pick.

“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,” Zito said. “We’re thrilled.”