There’s just something about Brandon Hagel that seems to cause friction with his colleagues. But the Florida Panthers locker room probably holds some extra grudges against the Canadian. From Matthew Tkachuk laying it on the 27-year-old NHL star at the 4 Nations Face-Off to the Cats’ repeated hits on Hagel in back-to-back postseason games last season, the Tampa Bay Lightning star has become like a walking punching bag for the reigning Stanley Cup champs. But one former Bolts’ star thinks the Panthers could be en route to having a target of their own this weekend.

With the 2025-26 regular season coming up, the Eastern Conference arch-rivals have been testing out the waters against each other. On Thursday, in the second game of the preseason series, the Lightning earned thunderous 5-2 victory over the reigning champs. However, it was A.J. Greer’s hit on Brandon Hagel that seemed to have left a sour taste in the Bolts’ camp. And now, with the final game slated for Saturday, former Tampa Bay star Pat Maroon thinks things could get ugly on the ice this weekend.

In an X post from October 2 by Tampa Bay Sports Director Evan Closky, Maroon could be heard talking about the Greer-Hagel incident that unfolded in the Amalie Arena tonight. “Pat Maroon on what to expect Saturday for the preseason finale in Sunrise between Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers,” reads the caption of the post, while the accompanying brief video clip shares the ex-left winger’s predictions for the upcoming clash between the storied rivals.

“I can’t see it being quiet,” Maroon made it clear off the bat that he thinks the Saturday match between the Panthers and Lightning is ripe for revenge. Maroon also noted that whatever happened to Hagel during Thursday’s match was unwarranted. “I just think what Greer did to Hagel was gutless. And I think this is going further now. They took it way too deep…I think come Saturday, we might see some big boys come in,” Maroon foretold that the Lightning are likely to unleash its wrath on the champs the next time they meet at the Amerant Bank Arena.

After Greer cross-checked the Tampa Bay star in the eighth minute of the match, temperatures soared, and Greer followed up his initial hit with two punches to Hagel’s face. Hagel returned to the locker room and didn’t come back for the rest of the game. He has been confirmed to also sit out Saturday’s match. But Brandon Hagel wasn’t the only one who was targeted by the Cats last night.

A ton of skirmishes defined the rest of the match, with Darren Raddysh dropping his gloves to take on Greer just moments after the hit of Hagel. Things turned so ugly that during the first intermission report, Maroon noted his eagerness to lace up and hit the ice to defend the Lightning. The Thursday match seemed more about the heated feud between the cross-state rivals once again spilling onto the skating rink.

A total of 49 penalties for 186 penalty minutes, including eight 10-minute misconduct majors, eight fighting majors, five roughing double minors, and four unsportsmanlike-conduct minors, were recorded last night in the match between the Panthers and the Bolts. Quite the number! Nevertheless, for Brandon Hagel being roughed up by the Panthers has become a regular fixture.

Brandon Hagel continues to be a walking target for Panthers’ stars

The inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off was projected as the landmark hockey tournament that would revolutionize the sport. Well, it did. And more than that. Turned out, the international competition turned into a stage for the North American neighbors to flex their muscles. In the first match between the USA and Canada, barely seconds had passed before Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel dropped their gloves to fight it out on the ice. While the American camp claimed the outburst was a result of the Star Spangled Banner being booed in their previous match in the competition, Hagel made it clear that his and his teammates’ sentiment lay elsewhere.

“I think we’re out there playing for the flag, not the cameras. That’s a part of Canada that we have in there. We don’t need to initiate anything,” the Canadian forward didn’t miss the chance to throw a shade on Tkachuk & Co. After the tournament finished, the rivals met each other again in the postseason for the second straight year. Needless to say, the heat only got more intense. In the second match of the Panthers vs Lightning series, Hagel hit Aleksander Barkov from behind, earning the former a one-match suspension. Upon his return in Game 4, the Cats’ defenseman Aaron Ekblad elbowed the Bolts’ star in the face, rendering Hagel unavailable for the rest of the series.

However, despite so much history from last season, Hagel promised that the bad blood wouldn’t spill over to this season. “If anything’s gonna carry over, I don’t think it’s gonna be about the hit. I think it’s gonna be about losing to them and them being our almost big brother at this point, where we were that to them for a long time,” Hagel said, while also admitting that, “I think the rivalry is going to continue to stay. It’s going to stay forever, and especially when two of the best teams in the NHL and the teams that have represented the Eastern Conference are both in Florida. That’s the mentality and it’s not going to be easy.”

Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper was also reluctant to give in to the emotions after Thursday’s multiple rounds of on-ice bouts. “It’s a couple teams that have played each other a ton, that know each other better than anyone. But I look at it, too, as guys sticking up for each other and doing what they feel they have to,” the Lightning boss said. However, remembering how Hagel wasn’t happy about the Panthers targeting him repeatedly last season, he just might be looking forward to returning last night’s infraction against him in kind the next time he sees the Cats!