Brad Marchand addresses rumors of joining the Maple Leafs.

The Florida Panthers are having a great time celebrating their Stanley Cup victory with the players popping up all over social media in different fan videos of their celebrations around the state of Florida, but as the players are celebrating the executives in the Florida Panthers front office are contemplating some extremely difficult decisions.

The reality is that the Florida Panthers have some tough roster decisions ahead of them, although the salary cap is going up this year giving them an advantage over teams that have faced similar issues in recent history, with it seeming to be almost inconceivable that they could keep their entire Stanley Cup winning roster together.

One of the biggest names at the forefront of this conversation has been that of former Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand, a player that the Panthers acquired at this year's National Hockey League trade deadline. Recently former NHL player turned NHL analyst Nick Kypreos made it clear that he believes Marchand is headed to Toronto to join the Maple Leafs.

"I don't know how he doesn't end up a Maple Leaf," said Kypreos of Marchand's pending free agency.

You don't often hear bold proclamations of that nature from NHL insiders ahead of free agency, but what is even more unusual to see is a response from the player being mentioned. That is exactly what we got this week however when Marchand himself responded to the rumor on Instagram.

"S*** dawg …the people wanna see it???" asked Marchand in response to a post on Instagram.

You can see Marchand's comment in the screenshot below:

I can certainly see the appeal of Marchand joining a team that he has haunted for a significant portion of his career in the NHL, although I'm not sure I agree that it is likely to happen.

Marchand is however in line for a big pay day after his incredible performance in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs and the Maple Leafs are one of the few perennial Stanley Cup contenders who can afford the cap space to give Marchand such a contract.

If the Maple Leafs did sign Marchand to a long term contract that did not work out in the long run, it would be one final way for Marchand to haunt the team before skating off into the sunset.