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Marchment glided his way into Florida after another brief turn in the AHL. Reinhart was still with the Sabres during Marchment’s first full season with the Panthers (2020-21), where Marchment notched two goals and 10 points through the COVID-19-shortened campaign.

In April 2021, Marchment signed a one-year deal to stay with the Panthers. Reinhart joined the club via trade later that offseason, then signed a three-year contract.

Marchment’s breakout started — in part — when he linked up on a line with Reinhart, their off-ice synergy apparent on a unit with Anton Lundell. That trio played a significant role in Florida’s dominant, President’s Trophy winning 2021-22 season, collecting a combined 173-point effort that ramped up throughout the campaign. On Jan. 31, 2022, Marchment recorded a six-point night in the Panthers’ win over Columbus, and then tallied his first-ever NHL hat trick the following month.

“We had really good chemistry from day one, honestly,” Marchment said. “I really enjoy Sam as a person and a friend. We were close off the ice and we were really close on the ice. We would talk on the bench a lot; we were pretty good at communicating with each other. He’s a really good player, a really easy guy to play with.”

That line kept producing, and suddenly Marchment was on everyone’s radar. He took the mounting accolades in stride, while knowing full well they didn’t happen by accident.

“I always believed that I was capable of getting there; it just had to be the right opportunity at the right time,” Marchment said. “When I went to Florida, [then-head coach Joel Quenneville] he really gave me a good opportunity to succeed and put me in the right places. He’s the reason I started flourishing, because he put me in those positions where I was going to succeed. It just took off from there.”

If Marchment is humble in his personal assessments, Reinhart is happy to brag about him. He got to know “a little bit” about Marchment’s career trek, and felt struck by the perseverance Marchment displayed to reach his target.

“It was a long path for him going through Toronto and slowly working his way up,” Reinhart said. “But to see the confidence he has in himself, and his game is pretty incredible. I think as soon as he came here, he took his game to a whole other level, and it doesn’t look like he’s slowing that down any time soon.”

The same thought occurs to Moore, Marchment’s former linemate with the Marlies. He shares a similar story to Marchment’s, going undrafted into the Leafs’ organization and battling his way into a regular role now with the Los Angeles Kings.

That shared history of growing pains bonded Moore and Marchment for almost three AHL seasons, through which Moore could see — well before the rest — Marchment’s ultimate destiny.

“I think people thought of him as just a bigger guy who’s going to hit and be tough, but there was always that skill there,” Moore said. “Like with the toe drags and the shot and the way he saw the ice. That just kept growing every year. Looking at him now and seeing him in the NHL, it’s amazing. There’s all the stuff that he can do as a top-six forward, but it’s not too, too surprising having seen all the steps that he’s taken in the past.”

Marchment is still a tough customer — just ask his supposed friends. Moore experienced that firsthand when his Kings faced Marchment’s Stars earlier this season.

“It was pretty cool, lining up against him the first shift in the starting lineup of an NHL game,” Moore said. “And then he goes and takes a run at me. The full circle moment was a little bit dampened. No, it was good. It’s really cool to see that we’ve both made it this far and I’m happy about it for him.”

MARCHMENT COMES BY that killer instinct naturally. His father Bryan had it, too.

For 15 years, the elder Marchment was a bruising, hard-nosed NHL defender who also laced up briefly for the Leafs. After his playing career, Bryan transitioned into front office positions, his last with the San Jose Sharks.

It was while working for the Sharks at the 2022 draft in Montreal that Bryan passed away suddenly on July 6. He was 53. No cause of death was ever publicly revealed.

The younger Marchment respectfully declines to talk about his father and what transpired last summer. The loss of his family’s patriarch was clearly gut-wrenching. Somehow, Marchment found his way forward — like so many times before — and showed in the wake of intense grief what a special person his father helped raise.

“I think it was [three weeks] out [from Bryan’s death], and I was actually able to see him at [Brandon Montour‘s] wedding in Nashville,” Reinhart said. “For him to be a few weeks from going through something like that — and obviously he wasn’t doing great and was having a hard time with it — for him to put that aside for somebody he’s so close with in Monty and to be able to come to the wedding and show up for him and put on a brave face, I just had so much respect for someone like him doing that. It just shows the kind of man he is and the friend he is.”

Reinhart and Marchment are still close now — Marchment’s girlfriend Alexis will be a bridesmaid in Reinhart’s upcoming wedding — and they’ll take any opportunity to tee it up on the golf course. That will have to wait until summer though; both Reinhart and Marchment hope their teams are on track for a long run ahead.

For Marchment, this season came stacked with expectations akin to producing on a big-ticket contract. Although in famously laid-back fashion, he hasn’t exactly been sweating those details.

“Nothing changes for me,” Marchment said. “I just have the same mindset that you’ve got to work hard every day and try to get better every day. I think with all the added pressures and stuff like that, it even makes more sense to just keep doing the same things. Don’t worry about the outside noise and just have fun and go out there and work hard.”

It’s a perspective that has served Marchment well in achieving this current level — something even his staunchest supporters weren’t sure was in the cards.

“It blows my mind,” Underhill said of Marchment’s NHL success. “I really didn’t see that for him early on. I don’t think anybody did. But there was something about this kid where he just kept kicking, he just kept going and nothing could hold him down.”

That includes the void left by his father. It was six days after Bryan’s death that Marchment signed with the Stars. Even if dad never got the chance to see him in that uniform, there’s no doubt who Marchment is thinking about every night on that ice. Or that a proud father is watching him from somewhere.

“He’s playing for his dad,” Reinhart said. “He’s got that extra incentive. For people to finally notice him, it’s definitely time for him to get some recognition. I’m thrilled to see him doing well. He’s got a massive fan in me and all the support in the world from me.”