avatar
March 10, 2026
Panthers reinhart

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers are going to use these final 19 games to make sure players working through some things do not get worse. That includes Sam Reinhart.

Coach Paul Maurice said Tuesday that Reinhart will not play tonight against the Detroit Red Wings so the team can stay on top of whatever may be ailing him.

Maurice did not go into detail.

We do know that Reinhart has played a lot of hockey over the past five years.

This will be only the fourth regular-season game he has missed since the start of the 2022-23 season. He was forced to miss two playoff games.


Reinhart has not only been through three deep playoff runs with the Panthers, but has also played for Canada at the 4 Nations and Winter Olympics.

Maurice said that with the Panthers getting three days between games with Detroit, perhaps adding two more days off will help Reinhart moving forward.

He said he expects Reinhart to play Thursday against the Blue Jackets.

“I’m not sure [Reinhart] has had this block of time off during a season in 3 1/2 years,’’ Maurice said. “We think a five-day bump for him will be like a long Christmas break and he can come back and be healthy.’’

Reinhart skated with the team at morning skate Thursday and spent time with the scratches and injured players — including Sasha Barkov — afterward.

The Panthers already announced Brad Marchand will miss time moving forward and also will not play tonight.

That means Florida will be without its two leading scorers against the Wings.

“We’re trying to get ahead of this with Sam Reinhart,’’ Maurice said. “We just had this unusual three-day block … and figured if we could add two more onto that, we maybe able to manage this out.’’

ON DECK: GAME No. 64
DETROIT RED WINGS at FLORIDA PANTHERS  
Related Topics: