Fresh off an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, Florida will have some roster questions heading into the upcoming season
Fresh off an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, Florida will have some roster questions heading into the upcoming season
It’s no secret that the Florida Panthers may be without two of their top defensemen when the new hockey season opens in a few months.
Both Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and their status for the start of next season is unknown.
That’s not because of anyone trying to keep information secret.
It’s literally a fluid situation with each player.
Not even Florida General Manager Bill Zito knows how either player is doing until one of them picks up the phone and gives an update.
“Montour and Ekblad, specifically, are the type that you don't know, like, it's almost like stages,” Zito said following the NHL Draft in Nashville. “Stage one is a month, stage two could be two months, you don't really know until you get there. So that's a tough one.”
It’s especially difficult because it gives Florida’s front office an element of the unknown as they head into a crucial free agency period.
The Panthers are the defending Eastern Conference Champions, fresh off the franchise’s first appearance in the Staley Cup Final since 1996.
For a team on the rise and in a seemingly good spot to run it back, with almost an entirely returning roster, Florida will have some obstacles to maneuver in the coming months.
“It’s a huge pain in the rear end because we have to account for the dollars, but we still have to fill those positions if they’re not available,” Zito said of Ekblad and Montour. “And I'm quite sure on Saturday, no one's going to call and say, ‘Yeah, I can come for two weeks or two months,’ so it's going to be hard. You're going to have to figure out a band aid, for lack of a better term, and then manage the cap, and we've been doing it for so long, we’re undeterred by it, but it's going to be a drag on what we can do.”
Free agency officially begins at noon on Saturday.