While Brad Marchand was celebrating his second Stanley Cup victory, Florida Panthers teammate Sam Bennett  spoke to Sportsnet during their lap around the ice. Bennett waxed poetic about the veteran pest. "We just followed his lead,” Bennett said. While Sam Bennett had a strong playoff performance, what the  37-year-old Marchand managed to do in a very short time with Florida was remarkable. He exhibited the perfect combination of will and skill that was required to win all four rounds of a grueling postseason.

Forget the fact that he’s 5-0 in Game 7s in his career against the Toronto Maple Leafs. As Marchand is a free agent, the Leafs should prioritize acquiring him for all the qualities he would bring to the team. At 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, he's not the biggest player, but he plays like one. He possesses the speed and skill necessary for the Leafs up front, and he has a proven ability to consistently go deep in the playoffs.

But perhaps more important than all of that, the player possesses the personality the Leafs are currently lacking. He's a proven leader who can settle his teammates down, someone who gathers everyone together for Dairy Queen runs and can lighten whatever tension may be around the team at any given moment. Marchand, who famously claimed to be a Leafs fan after defeating them in Game 7 of the second round, understands how close Toronto was to ending their postseason.

Some will argue that the Leafs challenged the Panthers more than any of the other teams they played against, given that the series went to seven games and Toronto had a chance to take a 3-0 series stranglehold before Marchand himself scored the overtime winner in Game 3 to make it a series again. Not bad for a player who made such an enormous impact on a team after joining in early March.

Report: Maple Leafs Among Possibilities For Panthers’ Brad Marchand In Free Agency The Toronto Maple Leafs will reportedly be one of the teams vying for Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand's services if he hits the open market on July 1st.

Before that, Marchand was the staple of a Bruins team that established a winning culture in the locker room. His relentless play was evident when he helped the club win the Stanley Cup in 2011. He became a player that management and teammates would rely on in critical moments. Always a pest, Marchand matured into a respected veteran player. He’s a player who has said he hates to lose more than he loves to win and “if you aren’t playing for the Stanley Cup at the end of the year, what’s the point?” When Jim Montgomery coached him in Boston, he described Marchand as someone who “drags everyone into the fight.”

There’s no doubt he’s going to want a raise from the $6.125 million he earned on average from his last deal. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that he heard Marchand may get more than the 3x$8 million that was initially heard as a possibility in a new deal. What if the Leafs gave him four years but got the AAV down slightly?

Toronto is clearly in a win-now mode, and getting a player like Marchand can fundamentally change the way the room operates. Forget all those players that were brought in before, Marchand would become a lead voice immediately and perhaps get more players to come out of their shell. Marchand’s winning legacy has been cemented; if he retired tomorrow, he would have had an amazing career.

But if he’s looking for the ultimate challenge for the next phase of his career while joining a team with a chance to win, there’s no better opportunity than Toronto, where he can have the biggest impact. He loves the spotlight and certainly doesn’t shy away from it. In all aspects, he’s exactly what they need.

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