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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Brad Marchand said he has considered re-signing with the Florida Panthers this offseason but stressed that his focus remains on winning the Stanley Cup before making any free agency decisions.

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it. But we’ll deal with that in the future,” Marchand said.

The Panthers acquired Marchand from Boston after he and the Bruins were unable to come to terms on a contract extension. Marchand becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Next season will be his 17th in the NHL.

The 37-year-old left wing could be a coveted veteran on the free agent market, having scored 23 goals with 28 assists in 71 games this season. He remains a solid two-way player who plays a tenacious, agitating game, and his stock has only risen in this run to the Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers. Marchand has seven goals and 10 assists in 19 playoff games, with two of those goals scored in Florida’s 5-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2 of the Final, including the game winner in double-overtime.

“I didn’t appreciate how good his hands are,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Marchand. “They’re kind of in that Matthew Tkachuk mode. That’s a set of hands that’s at the top end. Those guys are special. He’s an exceptional man. Really enjoy having him.”

Marchand said he has tried to avoid thinking about free agency, with the Panthers tied at 1 in their series with the Oilers.

“The longest you can go is two weeks, so you’re in the moment that entire time. You can’t have your mind in any other place other than right here and now,” he said. “I’ve said it so often during this run: You have to enjoy these moments. They don’t come often. There’s no other thought in my mind right now.”

When the postseason wraps up and Marchand turns his attention to free agency, the Panthers would appear to have an advantage to retain him. Not only have the Panthers advanced to the Final for three straight seasons — and Marchand has praised the organization’s professionalism behind the scenes — it is also one of six U.S.-based teams that have no state income taxes. The Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights have all won Stanley Cups and have been to multiple Finals since 2020. The Dallas Stars, another team with no state income taxes, have made three straight Western Conference finals.

While other teams and their fan bases have protested about this advantage in a salary capped league, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly recently said the league and the players aren’t looking to address the issue in their next collective bargaining agreement.

“These imbalances have existed forever,” Daly said. “There’s nothing new here. There are so many reasons why a player can choose to play in a particular location for a particular team that have nothing to do with the tax situation in that market. So I don’t expect it’s anything we’re going to address proactively as part of this collective bargaining negotiation.”

Marchand indicated that, as a veteran player, the local tax advantages will play into his thinking entering free agency.

“There are teams where that absolutely matters. It doesn’t matter for every player, but when you’re dealing with guys that have a choice between multiple teams, it absolutely plays a part,” Marchand said. “If you have two teams that are offering the same contract, you’re going to pick the team with less tax.”

Marchand said teams without that advantage typically have to pay players more, which impacts their cap space and their ability to maintain a successful team.

“Most contending teams don’t have a lot of cap space,” he said. “When you look at Canadian teams, most of them have an extremely high tax rate. Then the California teams, same thing. So those teams are going to have to pay more money to get certain players than others.”

The teams will face off in Game 3 on Monday night at 8 ET in Sunrise.

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Florida freshman WR Wilson to debut vs. Texas

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Florida freshman WR Wilson to debut vs. Texas

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida has offensive help on the way with a freshman receiver who just might make a difference against No. 9 Texas on Saturday.

Dallas Wilson is practicing for the first time since injuring his left foot in training camp and is scheduled to make his collegiate debut against the Longhorns, coach Billy Napier said Monday.

Napier called Wilson’s availability “a big deal.”

“Three good days of work last week, and I thought he handled the load well,” Napier said. “He feels really good. So far, so good.”

Wilson, a 6-foot-3, 213-pound newcomer from Tampa, was the star of Florida’s spring game in April. He caught 10 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns, and all indications in fall practice pointed to it not being a fluke.

But Wilson injured his foot late in camp, spent weeks in a protective boot and watched from afar as the Gators (1-3, 0-1 SEC) struggled to move the ball and find the end zone. Florida scored 16, 10 and 7 points, respectively, in consecutive losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami, raising speculation about Napier’s future in Gainesville.

Quarterback DJ Lagway has been the focus of the team’s offensive woes. The sophomore who went 6-1 as a starter last season missed most of the year dealing with injuries and looked rusty when the season began.

Although Lagway’s mechanics seemed improved in the team’s 26-7 setback at Miami on Sept. 20, his offensive line got manhandled and allowed way too much pressure for anyone to notice. Lagway completed 12 of 23 passes for 61 yards against the Hurricanes.

Napier used the off week to get Lagway more live-action reps in hopes of getting him “caught up.” But he also reiterated the need to “play better around him.”

“Each position group needs to step up,” Napier said. “More detail, eliminate errors, eliminate penalties, whatever the case may be. I just think more detail and better overall play around him. And, obviously, he needs to continue to get back closer to being himself.”

Adding Wilson to the mix should help.

The Gators haven’t shown much depth at receiver. Freshman Vernell Brown III has been Lagway’s go-to guy, catching 18 passes for 219 yards. But Eugene Wilson III, J. Michael Sturdivant and Aidan Mizell have been mostly underwhelming.

Dallas Wilson has been unable to help — until now. The Gators are confident he will change the narrative against the No. 1 scoring defense in the SEC.

“Just having him out is going to be amazing for us,” Lagway said. “His ability to go deep, his ability to make plays underneath and be able to make miraculous plays with the ball in his hands, it’s going to be great to have him back.”

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Finebaum mulls leaving ESPN for U.S. Senate run

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Finebaum mulls leaving ESPN for U.S. Senate run

SEC Network host Paul Finebaum said Monday that he would consider leaving ESPN to run for the U.S. Senate, representing Alabama.

The 70-year-old Finebaum said during a recent interview with Outkick that he’d run as a Republican to fill the seat vacated by former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, who has said he’ll run for Alabama governor in the 2026 elections. Tuberville’s current Senate term ends in 2027.

The qualifying deadline to run for Senate is Jan. 26, 2026. Finebaum said he would likely have to leave his hosting and analyst duties if he decided to run. He told Outkick he’d make a decision within the next 30-45 days.

Finebaum said he hadn’t seriously considered politics, but the assassination of Charlie Kirk was the impetus to give a run at politics further thought. He noted that he had received a “text” from “one or two people in Washington” gauging his interest in politics.

“[It was] something I never thought about before,” Finebaum told Outkick.

Finebaum is currently registered as a Republican in North Carolina, where he works for the SEC Network. He told Outkick he recently moved to Alabama, where he hosted a radio show for years, and would re-register there.

Finebaum hosted radio shows in Alabama for almost 30 years before joining ESPN and the SEC Network. He started his media career as a newspaper writer and columnist.

“Alabama has always been the place I’ve felt the most welcome, that I’ve cared the most about the people,” he said. “I’ve spoken to people from Alabama for 35 years, and I feel there is a connection that is hard to explain.”

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Petrino overhauls staff, fires defensive assistants

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Petrino overhauls staff, fires defensive assistants

Bobby Petrino has fired three defensive assistants just one day after being named interim head coach at Arkansas as part of an overhaul of the Razorbacks’ coaching staff.

Petrino dismissed defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and defensive assistant Marcus Woodson in the latest moves after being appointed interim coach for the rest of the season to replace Sam Pittman, who was fired Sunday following five-plus seasons as Arkansas’ head coach.

“I just felt like how we performed on Saturday gave me an indication that maybe Sam had lost the team a little bit because they generally had played really hard for him throughout his tenure,” Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek said of the move, which came on the heels of a 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame.

Petrino, 64, returned to Arkansas in 2023 as offensive coordinator after serving in a number of jobs. In four years as the Razorbacks’ head coach, he went 34-17, including consecutive seasons with double-digit victories in 2010 and 2011.

“Coach Petrino, as we met yesterday, he accepted this opportunity with the understanding that he also wanted an opportunity to formally be a candidate for our head coaching position, and he will have that opportunity, but we’ll also subsequently run a search for our next head coach at the same time,” Yurachek said.

Pittman’s dismissal, Petrino’s temporary promotion and the defensive assistant dismissals weren’t the only changes. Chris Wilson was named the team’s interim defensive coordinator.

Petrino had high praise for Wilson, who was in his first year with the Razorbacks as an assistant defensive line coach.

“My experience [with Wilson] goes way back to having to battle against him when he had all the great defensive linemen at Mississippi State,” Petrino said. “Very, very impressed with what he’s done throughout his career. Guy’s got a Super Bowl ring. He brings a lot of credibility into the room.”

Several defensive players posted cryptic messages on social media following the firing of Williams, who had served as the team’s defensive coordinator since 2023. Yurachek and Petrino encouraged players to welcome change amid a 2-3 start to the season.

“The No. 1 thing is, you have to get used to change. You know, your whole life there’s going to be change. So how we handle that, our attitude on how we handle that, will determine how quickly we improve,” Petrino said.

Petrino was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in April 2012 that left him with four broken ribs. At first, he said he was riding alone, but a police report revealed a woman was riding with him. The woman turned out to be a former Arkansas athlete who was in a romantic relationship with the married Petrino. The coach had given her a job in the football program and a $20,000 gift.

Petrino was fired by then-athletic director Jeff Long for misleading his bosses about what happened with the accident and his relationship with the football staffer.

Pittman, 63, went 32-34 with the Razorbacks.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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