It has been a disappointing season for the Florida Panthers. Their hopes of winning a third straight Stanley Cup are fading, as Paul Maurice has spoken out about what the Panthers need to do to right the ship.
Now, those hopes have taken another hit, as Maurice is speaking about an injury to Brad Marchand, according to George Richards of NHL.com.
“There's going to be a decision made on what's the best way to get him to 100 percent full health,” Maurice said. “I think even if there isn't [surgery], we're still talking long-term; like, this isn't going to be a couple of days. We're into weeks. He has been dealing with something for a couple of months, [but] we have been able to maintain it.”
Marchand missed ten games prior to the Winter Olympics, and then was held out of two games while at the Olympics with Team Canada. The team will find out in the coming days if Marchand needs surgery to fix this lingering issue.
“There were times where he didn't play and kind of maintained it, came back in,” Maurice added. “It got to the point on this road trip where it was never recovering; [it was] just getting worse. We're hopeful that we got it early enough that it isn't, well, we'll know this week what it is.”
Even while dealing with injuries, Marchand has been one of the top players on the Panthers this year. He has found the back of the net 27 times, which is good for second on the team, just one goal behind Sam Reinhart. Meanwhile, his 27 assists are tied for second, and his 54 points are also second on the Panthers this year. He has done all this while playing ten fewer games than his teammates.
The Panthers are 31-29-3 on the campaign, placing them in seventh place in the Atlantic Division. They are also 11 points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers will next take to the ice, without Marchand, on Tuesday, hosting the Detroit Red Wings.
