Brad Marchand doesn’t need a shift to start something.
The Florida Panthers winger was back at it on Instagram, taking a playful shot at Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander after Nylander posted a workout photo featuring free weights and a balance ball. Marchand saw the post and fired off a sarcastic comment: “Don’t hurt yourself with all that weight willy.”
It’s the kind of move Marchand has made a career out of, only this time it came from his phone instead of the ice. The Panthers forward has never exactly been shy about poking at opponents, and Nylander is a familiar name in that category. The two have bumped heads plenty over the years, with Marchand spending time in battles against Toronto during his run with both the Panthers and the Boston Bruins.
The timing is a little notable, too. Marchand recently had surgery to clean up a lingering issue, and there’s still no clear answer on whether it will affect his status for training camp. That update is expected to come when the Panthers gather in Fort Lauderdale in a few weeks.
For now, though, Marchand is healthy enough to keep the banter going online.
Florida and Toronto won’t meet in the regular season until Dec. 3 at Scotiabank Arena, so the on-ice version of this little back-and-forth will have to wait. Until then, Marchand’s latest jab gives the hockey world another reminder that even away from the rink, he’s still very much in the business of getting under people’s skin.
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One familiar name from the Panthers recent past has now been pulled into that conversation, too, because the questions in Toronto are no longer limited to what went wrong last season. The debate now stretches to whether a veteran presence the Maple Leafs once had reason to study closely can still be part of the answer, or whether his uneven regular-season track record means Toronto will keep looking for a different kind of stability as it tries to reset. [Read more 🡒]
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Several ex-Panthers remain in different stages of limbo, from players who have already moved on to others whose next NHL stop is far from settled. Vladimir Tarasenko is the most prominent of that group, while Reilly Smith, James Reimer, Jeff Petry and Mike Reilly also remain without a clear landing spot as the league inches closer to camp, leaving Floridas old connections very much in play even as the roster picture comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]