The Florida Panthers aren't expecting to see Brad Marchand play again anytime soon, and with the team's playoff hopes dwindling it's possible that the two-time Stanley Cup winner and Olympic silver medalist's season could be over.
Marchand has been dealing with a lower-body injury for some time, Florida coach Paul Maurice said Monday. The Panthers entered Monday 12 points out of a playoff spot with 19 games remaining, meaning it would take some sort of miraculous finish just for the injury-plagued, back-to-back Cup champs to get into the postseason.
“There’s going to be a decision made on what’s the best way to get him to 100% full health,” Maurice said.
Marchand, even while dealing with the injury, ranks second on the Panthers in goals (27), assists (27) and points (54). He and Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby are the only players, age 37 or older, with at least 27 goals this season.
The Panthers haven't said specifically what the injury is, but Maurice said it's something that Marchand has been able to manage until now.
“We had a handle on it and there were times where he didn’t play and kind of maintained it and came back in, and then it just got to the point on this road trip that it was never recovering and continuing to kind of get worse,” Maurice said. “We’re hopeful that we got it early enough ... we’ll know this week.”
Marchand's absence only adds to the story of the season for the Panthers.
Florida lost captain Aleksander Barkov to torn knee ligaments during his first practice of training camp, played nearly 50 games without Matthew Tkachuk while the star forward recovered from surgery last summer, have seen their defensive numbers plummet since Seth Jones got hurt two months ago — and those are just some of the injuries the Panthers have been hit with.
“We've been dealing with this right from 20 minutes into our first day of training camp this year,” Maurice said.
Marchand won a Cup with Boston, then was traded to Florida last spring and helped the Panthers win their second consecutive title. He's in the first year of a six-year contract with Florida.
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