FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Sam Reinhart will not join the Florida Panthers on their upcoming road trip, head coach Paul Maurice announced after Saturday’s practice.
As of right now, it’s unclear how much time the team’s leading scorer could miss with an undisclosed injury.
"It's more than one thing he's been dealing with," Maurice said.
Only two days removed from scoring the deciding goal in Thursday’s 2-1 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, Reinhart leads the Panthers in both goals (29) and points (61).
A two-way terror, he also leads Florida in power-play goals (11) and shorthanded goals (3).
“There’s a big spectrum there,” Maurice said when asked about the severity of Reinhart's injury.
With the Panthers (33-29-3) kicking off their four-game trip with a matchup against the Seattle Kraken on Sunday, the status of several other players also remains up in the air.
Joining Reinhart in the “Injured Sam’s Club,” Sam Bennett, who’s scored five goals in his last seven games, is day-to-day with an injury he sustained in the win over Columbus.
On fire since the Winter Olympics, the grizzled center is thankfully expected to play at some point on the trip.
“He picked something up in the game that didn’t get better,” Maurice said.
After sitting out against the Blue Jackets, Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell, two key pieces of Florida’s top-six forward group, will return to the lineup in Seattle.
Out since Oct. 25 with an upper-body injury, Jonah Gadjovich will travel with the Panthers, but it’s unclear if he’ll be able to suit up on the trip. Looking at the blue line, Maurice is “hopeful” that Uvis Balinskis, who’s missed two of the last six games, will play on the trip.
For the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, managing injuries is nothing new this season.
“Everybody’s dealing with something,” Maurice said. “We’re trying to get some guys back to feeling good. That’s all.”
Finally approaching the light at the end of the tunnel of a long and arduous rehab, Seth Jones, who sustained a broken collar bone on an unlucky bounce against the New York Rangers in the 2026 NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 2, could be getting back to work soon.
Ranking second among Florida’s defensemen in scoring with 24 points (6G, 18A) despite being limited to just 40 games this season, Maurice said Jones will still need to get “pushed real hard” once he’s been cleared before the final go-ahead can be given for him to return to a game.
“He went through it,” Maurice said of Jones’ rehab. “It took a long time to heal. There was nothing he could do. It just had to heal. Obviously, you get in the collar bone and have a crack there, it takes a long time to heal. Hopefully we get the green light today.”
As for Brad Marchand, the Panthers are still playing the waiting game.
"Don't have an answer for you on Brad," Maurice said. "There's doctors, a bunch of really smart guys, looking at him to figure out what it is and the best way to proceed."
Stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com for future updates.
