Brad Marchand turned down trade to major West contender before joining Florida

It was a shocker when, on Trade Deadline Day back on March 7, the Boston Bruins traded captain Brad Marchand to the defending Stanley Cup champions Florida Panthers. Everyone was stunned, though you must admit, Marchand has fit pretty well with the Cats.

Earlier this week however, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman revealed on his 32 Thoughts podcast that Marchand was heavily targeted by the Los Angeles Kings, turning them down due to his preferred interest for Florida.

Marchand and his Panthers entered the second round of the series against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday and are not behind 0-2 with Game 3 taking place later tonight in Miami.

As for the Kings, who took a real serious shot at Marchand, they were once again, for the fourth straight time put up against the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the postseason and ended up losing in six games.

Things might have been different for Los Angeles if Marchand had been on the roster, or the veteran forward would already be on vacation…

The Panthers will try to get their first win of the series in Game 3 later tonight, and you already know Marchand will do his best to get under the skin of Maple Leafs’ star players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.