Move south paying off so far for former Bolt
He is a small, fast, crafty forward. Undrafted. Played in the Tampa Bay Lightning system and is now leading his team in scoring. Sounds like a typical Lightning discover-and-develop story. Except Jonathan Marchessault got away.
Marchessault signed with Tampa’s cross-state rival, the Florida Panthers, over the summer after Tampa, facing a budget crunch after signing Steve Stamkos and others, let him walk as an unrestricted free agent.
After scoring twice on Thursday against the Leafs, Marchessault leads the Panthers with five goals and five assists. He has been playing on the top line with Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr.
“It was a good match for me,” said Marchessault, who played his junior hockey with the Quebec Remparts. “The first moment I got here, guys are really nice. I like the style of play. And they gave me a bigger role.”
Marchessault’s play led in part to Jonathan Drouin’s troubles with the Lightning. The four-year minor leaguer, who actually got his start in the Rangers organization, was at times playing ahead of Drouin with Tampa, part of what led to Drouin’s trade demands and his decision to walk away from the team for a stretch last season. With Drouin back in the good books in Tampa, Marchessault was deemed redundant.
“Tampa has had the same forwards the past three years,” Marchessault said.
“It was kind of hard to crack the lineup. I just wanted to have a chance to play in the NHL. This summer, it was time to move on.”
Six teams approached him. He signed for two seasons, at $750,000 a year. A bargain-basement price for a points producer.
“It wasn’t a question of money,” Marchessault said. “It was a matter of opportunity. I just wanted to have a third-line role, some power-play time. They were able to give me that. I was happy to come here.”
Marchessault signed his first pro contract with the Rangers in 2011and got into his first NHL games with Columbus, but became Lightning property in a trade deadline deal in 2014.
The Panthers, who have run into some big injuries with Jonathan Huberdeau (upper body), Nick Bjugstad (upper body), and Jussi Jokinen (lower body), are happy Marchessault chose them.
“He was one of the guys we wanted to bring in to make our team quicker and add skill. He was pegged for a third-line role, but now he’s on the first line and doing real well,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. “He’s working hard, he’s getting chances, he’s getting points, he’s playing with Barkov and Jagr. It’s an opportunity he’s taking advantage of.”