BOSTON — Four days after the 2025 trade deadline, the Florida Panthers played in Boston. Brad Marchand was injured and unavailable, so he didn’t dress.

“I’m pretty happy I wasn’t playing that game,” he said Monday.

It’s a weird thing to say, but history proves it’s a good thing he couldn’t.

Like so many of us in the immediate aftermath of a painful breakup, the exes weren’t ready to see each other so soon. It would have been a night of anger, of bitterness, nasty overtones instead of a salute to a great Bruin.

Tuesday, Marchand’s Beantown reunion will have a much better atmosphere. Boston fans won’t be thrilled to see him in Panthers’ colours, but they know he landed on his feet, a Stanley Cup champion, again. Another “old guy” rejuvenated in the Florida sun.

“I’m sure it’s going to b

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