The Florida veteran ignited divisional tensions by laughing off the young forward's leadership credentials, adding fresh fuel to the blossoming rivalry ahead of a heated October showdown.
We’re still a couple weeks away from seeing the Florida Panthers on the ice for training camp in Fort Lauderdale.
Fortunately, one of the Panthers more prominent players is doing his part to keep us entertained in the meantime.
Last week, Instagram account “puckempire” posted about the Ottawa Senators being close to choosing their next captain following the trade of Brady Tkachuk to Florida.
In the post, they list three players as the potential options to wear the “C” for the Sens.
They are defensemen Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson, and forward Tim Stutzle.
All three seem like reasonable choices.
Chabot is 29 and has spent his entire nine-year NHL career with the Senators.
Sanderson and Stutzle are both 24 and have 750 NHL games between them, also all with Ottawa.
Each of them were selected in the first round by the Senators. Chabot was selected 18th overall in 2015, while Stutzle was the third overall pick in 2020 and Sanderson went fifth that same year.
Stutzle has led the Sens in scoring three of the past four seasons, including last year when he racked up a team-high 34 goals and 83 points.
While it would appear that the young Stutzle has a strong case to be Ottawa’s captain, Panthers veteran Brad Marchand apparently does not agree.
On Tuesday, Marchand left a comment on the post, which simply said, “Hahahah …..stutzle….hahaha.”
The two have been divisional opponents since Stutzle came into the league during the 2020-21 season, but there haven’t been any memorable interactions between them or anything that has led to penalties or suspensions.
Still, this provides a little more fuel to the fire of the rivalry between Florida and Ottawa, which in recent years has often led to some physically entertaining matchups.
We won’t have to wait long to see the Cats and Sens lock horns, as the first meeting between the two clubs is set for Oct. 21 in Ottawa.
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Photo caption: Oct 21, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Florida Panthers left wingBradMarchand(63)smiles as the final horn sounds in their 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson-Imagn Images)
