NHL insider ditches 'intriguing' Brad Marchand for $17,700,000 Panthers star as Maple Leafs' next target

Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett have been the catalysts behind the Florida Panthers' 2025 postseason run.

The two currently rank first and third on the team in playoff points and lead the Cats in playoff goal scoring so far. It's been extremely impressive to see how well the pending UFA forwards have played, and it's hard to imagine where Florida would be without them.

The rest of the league has had a front-row seat to watch Marchand and Bennett dominate in these playoffs, further increasing their value and expected interest on the market should they hit free agency. The Toronto Maple Leafs will be one of the many teams that inquire about both Panthers, but one NHL analyst believes signing Sam Bennett would make more sense than Brad Marchand.

TSN hockey analyst James Duthie provided his thoughts on "First Up" on Thursday morning.

"I think I would say Bennett, probably, because maybe he's the guy that would get the biggest raise to come here," Duthie said (17:35). "And I don't know, maybe he wants to come home. He doesn't talk about it much. I doubt it, but I would put it on Bennett, although I think you're right, Marchand would be the most intriguing.

"Because there might be something in Marchand's character that would think this was just the ultimate play, right? And he does love, he does love the attention. I think he's really turned, you know, just the way he deals with the media, the way he does everything. And I think over the last couple of years, even when he was in Boston, he sort of completely turned that. He sort of completely turned that around.

"And I love the guy's interviews now. I think he's fantastic. So maybe that would just be a Marchand move, like you said, to say, I'm going to try to go into this craziest market of them all, the markets I've trolled for the last decade. But like I said, I wouldn't put, I don't have a lot of hope, a lot of hope on any of the three. I would put Bennett as probably the leader in that possibility."

Bennett is a pending UFA playing out the final season of the four-year, $17,700,000 contract extension signed with the Panthers in 2021.

One NHL insider would rather the Maple Leafs sign Brad Marchand

While James Duthie believes Sam Bennett would be the better get for the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer, NHL insider Nick Kypreos has the opposite line of thinking.

Kypreos is urging the Maple Leafs to focus on signing Brad Marchand instead. He shared his take on X, with a link to his article on the topic.

"The @MapleLeafs need to sign Brad Marchand next season more than any other @NHL team, and here is why. My latest @TorontoStar column. @StarSports #RealKyperandBourne," Kypreos wrote.

Just like Bennett, Marchand is a pending UFA finishing the final season of the eight-year, $49,000,000 contract extension he signed with the Bruins in 2016.