Injury Update on Panthers Star Defenseman

The Florida Panthers are losing their star defenseman.

The Panthers have placed defenseman Aaron Ekblad on the long-term injured reserve with a Grade 2 groin strain.

JUST IN: Florida Panthers’ defenseman Aaron Ekblad has a Grade 2 groin strain, multiple sources tell me.

— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) October 18, 2022

#FlaPanthers are indeed expecting to miss D Aaron Ekblad for a chunk of time on LTIR with a lower-body injury, the exact timeline TBD. But Ekblad is not expected to be out long enough to allow the Panthers to go shopping to replace him on the cap.@DailyFaceoff

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 19, 2022

Ekblad left Monday's game against the Boston Bruins with the injury, after registering a minus-1 rating and four penalty minutes in 15:49 of ice time. 

The good news is that Panthers general manager Bill Zito said the injury is only short-term and shouldn't keep the twenty-six-year-old out for long. 

Ekblad has dealt with leg injuries his whole career, suffering a leg fracture in 2021 and a right knee injury last season which sidelined him for the final six weeks of the season. 

The loss of Ekblad is especially bad, as Brandon Montour is also sidelined with an upper-body injury, putting the Panthers down two of their top defensemen.

Photo Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports