Marchand plants seeds of doubt about Auston Matthews: 'Gotta stir the pot'

With the Florida Panthers rolling into town for a matchup against the Leafs tonight, Brad Marchand has had a field day with the media already, where he's tackled topics regarding Mitch Marner's exit, his own interest in joining the organization this past summer, and now, planting seeds of doubt about Auston Matthews' future in Toronto.

When asked about Matthews breaking the Maple Leafs' all-time scoring record this past weekend, Marchand was singing his praises about how impressive it is for someone that young to break the record of a team that has been around for ages, as well as how elite his shot is, before throwing a tongue-in-cheek comment right at the end.

Of course, it was mostly done in jest, but Marchand knew exactly what he was doing in saying that Matthews is going to score plenty more goals in the next 10-15 years, whether with the Leafs or with a completely different team.

The rivalry between these two franchises has truly developed over the last few seasons with the Panthers having defeated the Leafs in the playoffs in 2 of the last 3 years en route to three straight Stanley Cup finals appearances.

It has only developed even further since last year when they acquired Brad Marchand at the 11th hour of the trade deadline. The Leafs-killer has spent his entire career tormenting the franchise with clutch goals, countless points, and irritating antics on and off the ice that has worked to a tee.

The 37-year-old enters tonight's game playing some of the best hockey of his career with 23 goals and 46 points in 40 games. He's done a fantastic job at keeping the Panthers afloat amid injuries to Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, and will be someone to keep an eye on tonight in their second meeting of the season.

Matthews and company will look to take care of business as a victory in regulation would have the Leafs tying the Panthers in the standings with 47 points apiece through 42 games. Look for the franchise's all-time goal scoring leader to potentially add a goal or two to his ledger in what should be a fiery contest.

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