Florida Panthers
Florida Panthers place Aaron Ekblad on Long Term IR
SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers have reportedly placed Aaron Ekblad on long-term injured reserve, per Cap Friendly.
Panthers general manager Bill Zito confirmed that he was placed on long-term injured reserve and will miss at least 10 games and 24 days.
The earliest he could be activated off LTIR is Nov. 12 but Zito did not have a timetable for his return.
”He will be back,” Zito said. “This is not a season-ending thing.”
Ekblad, 26, was hurt in the second period of Monday night’s loss in Boston while in pursuit of Jake DeBrusk.
He left the ice after Patrice Bergeron’s go-ahead goal and did not return.
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Florida started that game with only five defenseman as Brandon Montour was ruled out before the game.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice confirmed that Montour will miss Wednesday’s home opener against the Philadelphia Flyers, leaving the Panthers with only five defensemen.
Montour skated with the team during morning skate and will be a full participant in practice tomorrow, per Maurice.
Gus Forsling did not skate during Florida’s optional morning skate but is likely to play.
Florida called up Lucas Carlsson and Matt Kiersted from AHL Charlotte on an emergency basis for Wednesday’s game.
Eric Staal also joined the Panthers for morning skate. Per Zito, he is currently skating with the team as a non-roster player and has not formerly signed a contract due to the cap issues the team is still suffering through.
Zito says that the Panthers will not be using the $7.5 million in cap relief granted through placing him on LTIR as of right now.
Additionally, Anthony Duclair is expected to return from his Achillies injury sometime between December and January, per Zito.
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.
PANTHERS ON DECK
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
- Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise
- Tickets: CLICK HERE
- TV: TNT
- Radio: WKIS 99.9-FM 2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
- Last season: Florida won 3-0
- All-time regular season series: Philadelphia leads 55-36-6, 7 ties
Oh no…poor guy. Cant catch a break.
Okay George the obvious question first, why the heck is Zito not using the cap relief afforded by this move. The second question, is foresling nursing an injury of some kind, he seemed to not quite give 100% in the last game which is completely not like him and I was noticing him grimacing on the bench several times.
Forsling got hit by a puck I believe lay on Saturday in Buffalo so that could explain whatever you saw.
Ekblad on LTIR really only allows them a few callups because he is coming back; this is temporary relief. When he and Duclair come back, the cap problem returns.