Should Bruins fans want merchant to come back or close the book for good?

But Marchand plays for the enemy now, and he has been busy proving one of the best acquisitions of trade time of all time. While he helps the dreaded panthers in Florida to play for a second consecutive championship with his opportunities in a timely manner and his timeless leadership, merchant, two victories far from the Cup cup after the defeat of the Florida match 4 on Thursday evening of the series at 2-2, apparently spends every night to remind Bruins what they abandoned.

And undoubtedly, making them wonder if they should cook the money to bring it back. Emotionally, it is obvious. Marchand is loved in Boston, winner of the Stanley Cup during his first season in Pro and Provite, a former captain, BFF in Patrice Bergeron, a direct link to better and more competitive times, an element among the leaders of all time in franchise in everything, matches played with goals marked at the minutes of penalty. Whenever and whatever this final of the Stanley Cup, Marchand will be about to be a free agent without restriction on July 1. With a new lucrative contract in his mind, Bruins may well be among his contenders.

Unless they are, a real possibility given the incapacity of the parties to accept an extension during the regular season. And when the rational leaders take over, there are so many convincing arguments to keep the chapter on closed merchant for good, to celebrate from afar while he plays the last years of an extraordinary career elsewhere, then invites him for an inevitable jersey retirement ceremony in Boston.

While the Bruins start this next franchise phase under the new coach Marco Sturm, they would be wiser to follow the Sturm plan presented during his introductory press conference on Tuesday, the one which consists in honoring the ethics of past players but without looking into it.

“We have to restore everything because these guys are no longer there,” said Sturm. “So now it will take us and the new group to lead this group to a new era.”

Of course, it is difficult to watch Marchand during this rebirth of the playoffs and not to be tempted by his impressive statistics in Thursday’s match: eight goals in the playoff series (fifth among all players), 18 post-season (seventh) and more-minus more-15 (second). Marchand is the oldest player in the final history of the cup to score in the first three games in the series. Seriously, what more could he do to prove that there is gas in his 37-year-old tank?

Among these eight goals are the winner of the double extension in match 2, followed by 56 seconds in match 3, consecutive scores which made him the first player in the NHL history to score a goal in overtime in a match and an opening goal in the next final in a cup final. More importantly, however, it is how they helped the panthers to take control of the series after abandoning match 1 in overtime, this goal from the start of match 3 opening the valves to a 6-1 eruption.

Quite the impact of an exchange of delay which saw the Florida only give a conditional choice of second round of 2027 (which has since become a first round with the panthers making at least the turn 3 of the playoffs).

“He is an exceptional man,” said the coach of the panthers, Paul Maurice, to journalists this weekend. “I really liked having it.”

Sturm would probably also appreciate it. But the reality of the list of Bruins is nothing like that that Marchand is in Florida, where depth reigns so supreme that a man with front line talents has become a third line force. Alongside Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov et al, Marchand is the cherry on the Sunday. He puts the panthers above. Back with the Bruins, he would be supposed to assume the charge, being the same player who was left on a upper line, was the first on the power game, was the first to kill, while fixing the atmosphere of the locker room. Seems wiser now to allow young players to play these roles.

Wiser now to watch Marchand winning the loot of his contributions in Florida, where he joined a transparent way in a locker room which tormented his former team outside the playoffs in the past two years.

“I may not return to the playoffs in my career later,” said Marchand during this playoff race. “To be one of the last standing teams and be part of a large group of guys, these are memories that I want to remember and appreciate.”

Tara Sullivan is a chronicler of the globe. It can be contacted at Tara.sullivan@globe.com. Follow her @Globe_tara.