Marchand out 'weeks' for Panthers, may need surgery for lower-body injury

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Brad Marchand will find out in the coming days if he needs surgery for a lingering lower-body injury, Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Monday.

The 37-year-old forward missed 10 games prior to the Olympic Winter Games Milano Corina 2026 last month, when he won a silver medal with Team Canada. Marchand had one assist in four games.

"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 was held out of two games, but he did play in the gold medal game against the United States on Feb. 22, a 2-1 overtime loss.

He ranks second on the Panthers in goals (27) and points (54) in 52 games. Florida (31-29-3) has won the Stanley Cup each of the past two seasons but trails the Boston Bruins by 11 points for the second wild in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers return home to face the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, SCRIPPS) after going 1-3-0 on a four-game road trip.

Maurice said Marchand has been dealing with the injury for some time and "we were really pleased and quite surprised we had not run into this earlier."

"There were times where he didn't play and kind of maintained it, came back in," Maurice said. "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."

Marchand has had numerous surgeries over the past couple of years, including one to repair a sports hernia following the 2023-24 season while he was still with the Boston Bruins. He also had hip surgery following the 2021-22 season.

When asked if the Panthers were worried Marchand would need more surgery, Maurice said it's a possibility.

"That's what we're going to find out," he said.

Panthers defenseman Seth Jones practiced in a regular jersey Monday. He fractured his collarbone on Jan. 2 after being struck by a deflected puck early in the first period of the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot park in Miami. 

Jones has 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in 40 games this season while averaging 23:29 of ice time. He was replaced by Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe on the U.S. Olympic roster.

"Seth had a 6-8 week window, and he's probably going to push to eight on that," Maurice said. "He still has to clear medically. He can take contact, but there is still some healing that has to happen that hasn't happened yet.

"We believe he is trending in the right direction, and our best case is that it's another week and we can see him back in our lineup. But we don't know that."