Brace yourselves, Boston Bruins fans. Brad Marchand is set to take the ice for the Florida Panthers on Friday night.

It has been three weeks since the Bruins sent their captain to the rival Panthers in a shocking deadline day trade, but the veteran winger has only practiced with his new team because of an upper-body injury. That will change Friday night when the Panthers host the Utah Hockey Club at Amerant Bank Arena.

"We expect him to get into this game," Florida head coach Paul Maurice said after Friday's morning skate. "We should say we'll get him through warmups and see, but he has healed past that."

Oddly enough, one of Marchand's times on the ice with the Panthers came at TD Garden in the days following the trade. He began actually skating with his Panthers teammates earlier this week, which fueled speculation that a return to game action was imminent. 

In practice, Marchand has occupied the right wing spot on Florida's second line alongside Sam Bennett and Mackie Samoskevich. If seeing Marchand in a Panthers sweater isn't strange enough, watching him share a line with Bennett -- whose controversial hit knocked Marchand out for a pair of games in Boston's second round matchup with the Panthers last postseason -- will make Friday night extremely difficult for Bruins fans to stomach.

But Marchand and Bennett squashed their beef when they were teammates for Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off, and are now set to share a line again as Panthers. 

Marchand joining Panthers for Stanley Cup push

The Panthers went on to the franchise's first Stanley Cup title after ousting the Bruins from last year's playoffs, and are poised to defend their crown this postseason. Florida is one point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division, tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning with 89 points. 

But the Panthers have a game in hand on each of those teams, and are now adding Boston's former "Little Ball of Hate" to the mix for the final 11 games of the regular season and the playoffs.