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Brad Marchand helps eliminate Leafs again, gets Bruins closer to 1st-round pick
The Bruins are on the brink of adding a 2027 or 2028 first-round pick from the Panthers.
Brad Marchand continued to torment the Maple Leafs Sunday night.
The longtime Bruins winger and now Panthers forward was arguably the best player on the ice in Florida’s 6-1 win over the Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals — scoring an empty-net goal and adding two helpers in the lopsided win at Scotiabank Arena.
Marchand is now 5-0 in Game 7s against Toronto in his NHL career, with the Panthers now advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the third year in a row.
Florida’s decision to trade for Marchand has paid off well for the reigning Stanley Cup champions, as the 37-year-old winger is tied with Eetu Luostarinen for the most postseason points (12 points) on the Panthers’ roster.
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But Marchand’s strong play is also benefiting his former team, as the Bruins are now on the cusp of securing a future first-round pick from the Panthers as a result of their trade-deadline deal involving their former captain.
The Bruins made the call to trade Marchand to Florida for a 2027 conditional pick, with Florida needing to win two rounds in this Stanley Cup Playoffs and Marchand needing to play in half of the Panthers’ playoff games to turn a second-round pick into a first-rounder.
Sunday’s victory cleared the most daunting hurdle for the Bruins when it came to securing a future first-round pick from the Panthers.
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The only remaining requirement is for Marchand to appear in half of Florida’s playoff games. Given that Florida can now only play a maximum of 26 playoff games, Marchand (12 games played) needs to play just one more game to officially lock in that first-round pick.
The only other caveat worth following will come in 2027. According to PuckPedia, that 2027 first-round pick from Florida is top-10 protected, which means it will become a 2028 first-round pick if the Panthers really bottom out in 2026-27.
With Boston now on the brink of adding another first-round pick via the Marchand trade, here is the Bruins’ total trade haul from this March:
2025 second-round pick (Edmonton)
2025 second-round pick (Colorado)
2025 fourth-round pick (Toronto)
2026 conditional first-round pick (Toronto – top-5 protected)
2026 sixth-round pick (Minnesota)
2027 first-round pick (Florida)
F Casey Mittelstadt
F Fraser Minten
F Will Zellers
F Jakub Lauko
F Marat Khusnutdinov
D Max Wanner
D Daniil Misyul
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