The Florida Panthers received some very bad news on Saturday morning, as Brad Marchand announced to social media that he underwent surgery for a lower-body injury.
Marchand, 38, posted 27 goals and 54 points in 52 games last season for the Panthers, a season in which Florida missed the playoffs and landed the ninth overall pick.
Florida then flipped that pick in a huge package to acquire Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators, further building a championship-contending monster of a team.
Marchand's injury could rule him out for multiple months after undergoing "last-minute" surgery for his lower-body injury.
According to Panthers insider George Richards, Marchand is believed to be dealing with a hip and sports hernia injury. The surgery, according to Richards, could have Marchand out for two months, making it unlikely that Marchand will be ready for opening night on September 29.
If his hip injuries sound familiar, that's because Marchand underwent double hip surgery in the summer of 2022, which had him out for up to six months, though Marchand recovered in under five months and missed just the first seven games of the 2022-23 season.
However, Marchand's injury does rule out his ability to play in Zdeno Chara's Farewell Game, "Zee's Final Shift."
“I won’t be able to make Z’s game,’’ Marchand says in the video posted to Instagram. “Unfortunately, I had to have a surgery, was trying to fix a problem without surgery, but unfortunately that was unable to happen, and I had to kind of do it last minute.
“With the time and recovery I am going to need, I won’t be able to make it and play in the game, unfortunately.”
Marchand played 1,090 games for the Boston Bruins from the 2009-10 season through the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.
In that time, he won the Stanley Cup in 2011, became a superstar and leader, posting 422 goals and 974 points in his Bruins career. He capped off his time in Boston by serving as captain from 2023 through the 2025 deadline.
At the 2025 Trade Deadline, the Bruins dealt Marchand to the Panthers in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick. Marchand subsequently went on to win the 2025 Stanley Cup with the Panthers.
The Bruins, meanwhile, reloaded and made a push back to the playoffs in 2025-26, then flipped the 2028 first-round pick along with the 23rd overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft for JJ Peterka, who will play a key role for the Bruins this upcoming season.
