Brad Marchand reveals he almost joined another Bruins rival

“I mean, ultimately, I never even thought it was even possible to re-sign in Florida. I really didn’t.”

Brad Marchand re-signed with the Panthers this past offseason. AP Photo/Kyusung Gong

It was already painful enough for some Bruins fans to watch former captain Brad Marchand lift the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in June.

But, the Bruins legend revealed on Tuesday that he also considered joining another rival of Boston’s this past offseason before eventually re-upping with Florida.

“It was between Florida and Toronto of where I was going to go,” Marchand told reporters, including The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, on Tuesday before a matchup with the Panthers. “I mean, ultimately, I never even thought it was even possible to re-sign in Florida. I really didn’t. Just with the guys that we had up and stuff like that.

“Toronto, I was serious about what I said, with where they’re at. As a group, the way that they’re competing now — they compete the right way, which is what they kind of had to get over that hurdle.”

The 37-year-old Marchand eventually re-upped with the Panthers on a six-year contract with Florida before hitting free agency.

While Marchand’s comments could be interpreted as another signature trolling opportunity for the long-time Leafs antagonist, Johnston noted that there was “ legitimate smoke around the possibility of him jumping to the Leafs on July 1.”

“League sources familiar with the situation say that Toronto even passed on the possibility of acquiring another player in a June trade in order to protect the cap space that would have been needed to bring in Marchand,” Johnston wrote.

“They were ready to be aggressive if the 37-year-old winger hit the open market coming off a playoffs in which he finished second in Conn Smythe Trophy voting and was part of a team that knocked the Leafs out of the playoffs for the fifth time in his career.”

Even though Marchand reportedly had interest in joining Toronto, he did manage to twist the knife against the Leafs amid their up-and-down season.

“It’s unfortunate the fans ran [Mitch] Marner out of town,” Marchand said, referring to Marner’s exit this offseason before joining the Vegas Golden Knights. “That’s a huge impact on their group. He’s a point-a-game player. Like, that hurts.”