Panthers Pull Off Trifecta With Brad Marchand Deal

Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito has accomplished so much with so little. He has managed to sign all three unrestricted free agents this summer with room to spare.

Panthers General Manager Bill Zito places the Stanley Cup on a table on Wednesday August 14, 2024 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis. / Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bill Zito has built a two-time Stanley Cup championship team in the Florida Panthers. Now, it looks like they are going to run it back, or rather, skate it back.

The threshold question after the Panthers won the second Stanley Cup was whether Zito could keep the team intact with Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand all on the cusp of free agency which begins July 1.

In true Zito fashion, he found a way to sign all three and have room to spare. Consider Zito an early odds-on favorite for the Jim Gregory Award which goes to the General Manager of the Year.

On the eve of NHL Free Agency season starting, Zito made sure Ekblad and Marchand were going nowhere.

Ekblad agreed to terms on an eight-year deal earlier on Monday. Later Monday evening, Zito locked down Marchand with a six-year deal. Florida had already signed Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett to an eight-year deal last week.

Mission accomplished.

Florida acquired the rights to Marchand on March 7, just before the trade deadline through a trade with the Boston Bruins. Marchand was a key piece to the Panthers push for the playoffs and was monumental in the playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and in the Stanley Cup Final.

Zito had maintained all along he could sign all three and keep the team intact. There were doubters and experts who said he could not do it. Ekblad and Marchand both took team-friendly deals to keep the inner core together.

Ekblad will average $6.1 million per season, while Marchand signed for a reported average of $5.3 million, according to The Hockey Night in Canada's Elliotte Friedman, who had it first. Both players took below market money to continue to fight for championships.

Marchand, 37, was the Bruins captain at the time of the trade. There were rumblings the Bruins wanted to bring him back once he hit free agency. They will not have the chance.

He joined Florida’s third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen and made both of them better players. He also finished second in the Conn Smythe Trophy voting to Bennett.

Marchand had maintained he wanted to retire as a Panthers player. At the championship parade he said he looked forward to not getting hit by the players who are now his teammates. He tipped his hat and played his hand. It was inevitable he was not going to re-sign.

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