Trading Brad Marchand was always on the table for the Bruins. But trading him to a recent playoff rival who he has history with came as a bit of a surprise.

The Boston Bruins and Brad Marchand couldn't agree on a new contract extension before ultimately trading him to the Florida Panthers.

Marchand will not play for the Panthers right away, with general manager Bill Zito reiterating the Bruins’ timeline of “week to week” after Marchand sustained an upper-body injury in the first period of Boston’s 3-2 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 1.

Marchand wanted to play his entire career in Boston. His leadership and the team’s culture was something new Bruins always said they had admired from afar and made them want to be part of the organization. That doesn’t mean the Bruins should have caved to any demand Marchand made, but trading him will be noticed.

Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett, fresh off a memorable 4 Nations Face-Off where he starred for Canada, authored a rare "Gordie Howe hat trick," with a goal, an assist and a fight, in his team's 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

Some of the wildest NHL trades tend to come through just at or even after the deadline, and this is absolutely a wild one. According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Fri

In a stunning move that no one saw coming, Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand was traded to the Florida Panthers in a stunning move minutes before the 3 p.m. deadline on Friday.