Key offensive threats sidelined, with star forwards and defensemen facing extended absences as the Panthers navigate a growing injury crisis.
The Florida Panthers were back on the ice at the Baptist Health IcePlex on Monday ahead of a pair of home games this week.
Florida was fresh off their latest road expedition, this one a four-game trip that took them out to the northeastern parts of the U.S. and Canada.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice provided updates on several of Florida’s players after the practice, including some who are going to miss a decent amount of time.
We’ll start with Florida’s two leading scorers, Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart.
Marchand has not played since Florida’s victory over Detroit on March 6, and he may not play again this season. Maurice previously said Marchand had been battling injuries throughout the season and was seeing several doctors in order to assess the best way to move forward.
It sounds like that process is still playing out after the initial examinations.
“We sent (the results) to the doctors, and now he’s doing the doctor tour,” Maurice said. “We’ll get an idea of how we’re going to rehab that here hopefully the next 10 days.”
As for Reinhart, he stayed back in South Florida when the Panthers traveled cross-country for their road trip.
Maurice indicated he is going through a similar process to Marchand.
“He’s testing tomorrow,” Maurice said of Reinhart. “There’s more tests tomorrow.”
Despite Reinhart missing each of the past four games and Marchand sitting out the past six, they still remain Florida’s top two scorers.
Reinhart leads the team with 29 goals and 61 points in 64 games while Marchand has 27 goals and 54 points through 52 games. Next in both categories is Sam Bennett with 25 goals and 53 points.
Florida’s leading scorers weren’t the only players that Maurice provided injury updates on during Monday’s media availability.
Defenseman Niko Mikkola and Uvis Balinskis are each likely out for the season after both were given four-to-six week recovery windows for respective lower-body injuries. Considering the season will be over in less than a month, it would seem that have both played their final games on this particular campaign.
Forward Mackie Samoskevich is going to be out at least seven-to-10 days after suffering a laceration during Florida’s 4-0 win in Edmonton last Thursday. He did not play in Friday’s 4-1 loss in Calgary.
Anton Lundell is day-to-day and is the closest of any of the injured players to returning to the lineup. He’s been held out of two of Florida’s past five games, but did pick up a power play goal during the Panthers win in Edmonton last week.
Florida begins a brief two-game homestand on Tuesday when they host the Seattle Kraken at Amerant Bank Arena.
Puck drops in Sunrise at 7 p.m.
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Photo caption: Dec 15, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Brad Marchand (63) reacts to a goal scored by center Sam Reinhart (13) against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second period at Benchmark International Arena. (Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)