Brad Marchand signed a $31.5 million contract with the Florida Panthers on July 1. He will earn a salary of $5.25 million per season over the next six years. Both sides agreed to that deal after Marchand's impressive performance in the 2025 playoffs, helping the Panthers win their second Stanley Cup.Marchand is 37 years old and joined Florida in March via a trade. He had 51 points last season (23 goals and 28 assists). He also scored 20 points in the playoffs, including six of 10 goals scored in the Stanley Cup finals against the Edmonton Oilers.NHL analysts Jason Gregor and Michael Russo discussed the deal on Saturday. Gregor said that the term of Marchand’s contract was surprising."They kept the entire gang together and a little bit of head scratching, maybe on some of the term of those contracts, like Brad Marchand, hell of a guy, but Brad Marchand, six-year deal like, great for him, but for Florida Panthers," Gregor said (32:21), via the "Daily Faceoff Rundown" podcast.Gregor also discussed Matthew Tkachuk’s injury status. He talked about Tkachuk in the context of his LTIR, which allows Florida to start the season despite being $3,725,000 over the salary cap. However, he thinks Tkachuk will not stay on injured reserve for the entire season. He likely wants to play in the 2026 Winter Olympics for Team USA in February."Obviously, he's going to want to play there," Gregor said.Gregor asked Russo if he was surprised with the deals Panthers general manager Bill Zito gave."Were you surprised at the deals that he (Zito) handed out?" Gregor said.However, Russo gave credit to him. He said Zito has turned Florida into a place players want to join."You know, I'm never going to criticize Bill Zito," Russo said. "He's just an amazing general manager, so I am surprised. I'm more surprised that they were able to get it done like I thought, maybe two out of three for them to get all three back in the core. I just think that was just incredible work there, by a GM that is managing a team that is a place that nobody used to want to go to."Russo added that Marchand was a perfect fit after the trade. He praised his play on the ice and leadership off of it."Marchand fit in like a glove there. It was an absolute blast to cover him," Russo said.Marchand has played 16 seasons in the NHL. He won his second Stanley Cup of his career last season, after his first win in 2011 with Boston.Russo thinks Panthers are going to be "a great team"The Panthers also signed Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett to long-term deals this offseason. Ekblad agreed to an eight-year $48.8 million contract, while Bennett signed an eight-year $64 million deal. Both played key roles in Florida’s playoff run.Michael Russo believes keeping Brad Marchand, Ekblad and Bennett were great moves."So they're just going to be a great team," Russo said on Saturday, via the "Daily Faceoff Rundown" podcast.Apart from on-ice impact, Marchand brought a lot of off-ice attention to Florida. He was popular for the Dairy Queen talk during the playoffs, and for giving the Panthers locker room a light atmosphere.Florida has its championship core signed for years to come.