It’s hockey on ice, but things are already simmering. Panthers General Manager Bill Zito has got the megaphone out: “The journey isn’t over; there is work to do.” The Panthers are trying to make it 2 Stanley Cup wins in 2 years. And on the other side, the Edmonton Oilers have their own motivations. “It’s nice to get a shot at getting some revenge,” star forward Leon Draisaitl has declared as they get ready for the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals rematch. So many elements are at play, and amidst all this, the Bruins-Panthers rivalry has found its way into the mix thanks to Matthew Tkachuk. How are the Boston Bruins figuring in all this? Well, here’s how!

Remember Trent Frederic, the 27-year-old center who has 1 goal and 3 assists in the 2025 playoffs for the Oilers. He has played in all 16 postseason games this year, and he will be relishing going up against the Florida Panthers when the puck drops on June 4. After all, he started the season as a Bruins player and played 57 games until he was traded at the March deadline.

As for his experience with the Panthers, he will have vivid memories of how it went down the first time they met in the 2024 regular season. Albeit he was a Bruins player back then. B/R Open Ice shared a clip on Twitter on June 3 with the following caption: “In the first game of the NHL season, Trent Frederic tried to drop the gloves with Matthew Tkachuk. The bad blood dated back to the 2024 playoffs, when a Sam Bennett hit knocked Brad Marchand out of the Panthers-Bruins series.”

Yeah, the Bruins and the Panthers have barely seen eye to eye. And it’s got as much psychological bite as there was no-holds-barred physicality. Take this Frederic-Tkachuk skirmish, for instance. The incident took place on October 8, 2024, when the Panthers-Bruins game saw Frederic get a 2-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

But the Bruins forward had a different view, which he shared with the reporter after the game. He thought Matthew Tkachuk played him in dropping the glove. “It’s kind of hard when someone says…He actually asked me because I was asking him, and he didn’t. So, it’s hard to read that.” When the reporter asked Trent Frederic if the Panthers alternate captain “was trying to sucker” him into dropping the gloves, the Bruins forward stated, “Yeah, I guess. I didn’t know people did that. I think that’s kind of… It’s a little disrespectful to the game.”

Yeah, well, the tweet from B/R Open Ice sets it up perfectly, but with a diabolical twist that only comes with the NHL trade carousel. “Now, Frederic is on the Oilers, and Marchand is teammates with Tkachuk and Bennett 😅.” How will Frederic feel to see Brad Marchand hugging it out with Sam Bennett, with the contrasting vivid memory of the Panthers’ #9 casually throwing out a punch to give Marchand a concussion, which would rule the then-Bruins captain for the rest of the playoff 2nd round series?

Eh, water under the bridge. They wear the same colors now. And Brad Marchand is so happy in Florida.

Matthew Tkachuk’s new teammate is all in for the Panthers

When Frederic was traded to the Oilers, right at the same time, the veteran Brad Marchand left his home of 18 years to team up with his foes. But it soon turned into a perfect trade for both parties. The Panthers have never looked better, and the 37-year-old also looks like a rejuvenated player. The 2011 Stanley Cup winner has played all 17 games of the 2025 playoffs, getting 13 points with a rating of +11.

As for his mood, Marchand’s line says all you need to know: “The group is incredible. And it’s a very easy group to feel at home with.” Even his Panthers teammates have welcomed the NHL elite with open arms. After all, they know he is quality through and through, with his hockey IQ and movement. Captain Aleksander Barkov had been singing his praises, even more so after the former Bruin came alive against the Maple Leafs: “Now that he’s on our side, it’s just, I don’t want to say relief, but it’s really fun to watch.” It was even more important as Matthew Tkachuk was going through a lean patch then.

And the highest praise has come from the Panthers’ head coach himself. What makes Brad Marchand special? “To play the number of games that he’s played, as hard as he’s played, at his size, there’s a competitor in that guy,” Paul Maurice had said on May 19 in a presser. But that’s not all Brad Marchand is. The 5’9” guy has as much skill as he has grit. “Two playoff series, I started to appreciate just his game, just the hockey. And then you get on the practice and you see his hands.” The coach even praised his influence on young forwards like Anton Lundell and how the newcomer has been setting standards, if not uplifting them, in the Panthers dressing room.

Trent Frederic and Brad Marchand have taken their separate paths. But they have one thing in common. They want the 2025 Stanley Cup.