FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Sam Reinhart will not participate in the Florida Panthers’ next road trip, head coach Paul Maurice announced after Saturday’s practice.
At this point, it’s unclear how much time the team’s leading scorer could miss with an undisclosed injury.
“He’s working on more than one thing,” Maurice said.
Just two days after scoring the winning 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 fearsome two-pronged player, he also leads Florida in power-play goals (11) and short-handed goals (3).
Asked about the severity of Reinhardt’s injury, Maurice said: “There’s a huge range there.”
The status of several other players remains up in the air as the Panthers (33-29-3) begin a four-game series Sunday against the Seattle Kraken.
Sam Bennett, who joined Reinhardt in the “injured Sam’s Club,” has scored five goals in his last seven games, but has been plagued by an injury sustained in the win over Columbus.
The gray-haired center, who has been on fire since the Winter Olympics, is thankfully expected to play at some point on the road trip.
“He picked something up in the game and it just didn’t improve,” Maurice said.
After missing the game against the Blue Jackets, Carter Verhey and Anton Randle, the mainstays of Florida’s top-six forward group, will return to action in Seattle.
Jonah Gajovic, who has been out since Oct. 25 with an upper-body injury, will accompany the Panthers, but it is unclear whether he will suit up for the trip. Looking at the blue line, Maurice is “hopeful” that Ubis Balinskis, who has missed two of the past six games, will play on the road.
Managing injuries this season is nothing new for the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.
“Everyone is working on something,” Maurice said. “We’re trying to get some guys back feeling good. That’s it.”
Seth Jones, who suffered a broken collarbone on an ill-fated bounce during the 2026 NHL Winter Classic against the New York Rangers on Jan. 2, is finally nearing the light at the end of his long and difficult rehabilitation tunnel and could be back on the job soon.
Morris, who ranks second among Florida defensemen with 24 points (6G, 18A) despite being limited to just 40 games this season, said even if Jones is cleared, it will still take a “pretty hard push” before he is given the final green light to return to the game.
“He went through it,” Maurice said of Jones’ rehabilitation. “It took a long time to heal. There was nothing he could do. He just had to let it heal. Obviously, when you get stuck in the collarbone and there’s a crack there, it takes a long time to heal. I hope we get the green light today.”
As for Brad Marchand, the Panthers are still playing a waiting game.
“I can’t answer that for Brad,” Maurice said. “There are a lot of doctors, really smart people, who are examining him to understand what it is and the best way to move forward.”
Stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com for future updates.
