Tim Stutzle fires back at Brad Marchand over Senators captaincy jab

Tim Stutzle is not letting Brad Marchand get under his skin.

After the Panthers forward mocked the idea of Stutzle wearing the C in Ottawa, the Senators center made it clear the comment did not bother him at all.

Stutzle told reporters he does not really care what Marchand thinks, adding that Marchand is simply a great player who loves getting into other guys heads.

It is a fitting read on a guy who has built an entire career doing exactly that around the league.

Marchand set off the chatter when he responded to a report naming Stutzle, Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson as finalists for Ottawa's vacant captaincy following Brady Tkachuk's trade to Florida over the summer.

Instead of engaging in a back and forth online, Stutzle chose to laugh the whole thing off publicly, framing Marchand's antics as part of his identity rather than any kind of real slight against him.

The situation carries an interesting wrinkle since Drake Batherson trains with Marchand every offseason near Halifax alongside a handful of other NHL stars.

Batherson admitted he reached out to Marchand right after the comment blew up, sending a quick message asking what exactly he was doing.

He said Marchand laughed it off in response, explaining that stirring the pot has been his trademark for two decades now and that it was simply Marchy being Marchy, nothing more to it.

With Ottawa still weighing who ultimately replaces Tkachuk as captain, this little spat adds yet another storyline before the Senators and Panthers meet for the first time on Oct. 21.

Stutzle remains one of the leading candidates for the job alongside Chabot and Sanderson.

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