The Florida Panthers will be without their top defenseman for the foreseeable future.
Aaron Ekblad has been placed on long-term injured reserve after sustaining a groin injury on Monday against the Boston Bruins. He will be out a minimum of 10 games or 24 days, whichever is the longer length of time, so the earliest he can return is Nov. 12 against the Edmonton Oilers.
Panthers general manager Bill Zito on Wednesday said he did not have an exact timetable for Ekblad’s return but did say the injury is “not a season-ending thing.”
“We have every reason to believe he’ll be back at 100 percent,” Zito said after the team’s morning skate ahead of the Panthers’ home opener against the Philadelphia Flyers.
This is the third consecutive season that Ekblad is missing extended time. He had a left ankle fracture that forced him to miss the final two months of the 2021 season and the entirety of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He also missed the end of the 2021-2022 regular season with a knee injury but returned for the playoffs.
Now, he’s sidelined again.
“He’s about as mentally strong a person as there is,” Zito said. “I’m sure he’s angry and sad. He’s human, but he’s a pretty strong guy. My understanding of it is it’s something that it’s not if [he’ll return] but when. He’ll come back. These things happen and he’s a resilient guy. He’s a huge part of our team and will continue to be even when he’s not on the ice.”
In addition to being part of the Panthers’ top defenseman pairing and racking up 292 career points, including a career-best 57 last season, Ekblad is also a fixture on the Panthers’ top power-play unit. He led the team in average time on ice per game each of the past four seasons, including going nearly 25 minutes per game each of the past two seasons.
“Ekky is a huge part of our team,” center and team captain Aleksander Barkov said. “Missing him even for one shift is big, but hopefully he can come back soon.”
Who fills in with Ekblad out?
While Ekblad is out, the Panthers will get some needed salary cap relief that will allow them to bring in reinforcements until Ekblad returns.
Players who are on long-term injured reserve do not count against a team’s salary cap, meaning the Panthers have an extra $7.5 million to work with until Ekblad is activated.
The Panthers were right up at the salary cap before Ekblad’s injury and are also without Brandon Montour for a second consecutive game while he deals with an upper-body injury.
As a result, the Panthers recalled defensemen Matt Kiersted and Lucas Carlsson with the temporary cap relief.
The Panthers now have six defensemen for their game Wednesday: Gustav Forsling, Radko Gudas, Josh Mahura, Marc Staal, Carlsson and Kiersted.
Montour could return Friday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
While replacing a player of Ekblad’s caliber isn’t easy, coach Paul Maurice is looking at his absence as an opportunity to see what players from the team’s defenseman group can step up when needed.
“You get to look at things,” Maurice said. “What happens if this [happens] in a critical game to make the playoffs or in a playoff series and you’ve lost a couple defensemen. You would have a plan already that we’ve worked on and that we’ve used. Every single team in the NHL usually faces some significant adversity and it helps define them, so we’re not shying away from this.”
