DANIA BEACH - Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand pushed back his expected return timeline to five or six weeks, longer than the three-week estimate coach Paul Maurice offered last week, after Marchand sustained a left knee injury Oct. 6 in Los Angeles.
Marchand made the comments Thursday morning at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport during the unveiling of a new jetBlue Panthers-themed aircraft livery, Florida Hockey Now reported. He was helped off the ice by teammates Niko Mikkola and Brady Tkachuk after being pulled down while crashing the net against the Kings.
“I’ve never been so happy to be out for this amount of time,” Marchand said. “The injury could have been so much worse. I’ve never hurt my knee before; I didn’t know what to think when I went down. I thought it could be a career-ending type of thing, a season-ending thing. When I found out it would be a couple of months or whatever, I was pretty happy that was the case. It has been getting better and stronger every day, we’re working through it.”
Captain Aleksander Barkov, who Maurice also said would be out another three weeks, did not offer a specific return date but said the shared rehab experience with Marchand has been a silver lining. Barkov acknowledged the dynamic is a departure from their years as division rivals, when Marchand skated for the Boston Bruins.
“Hopefully, soon, both of us will be back,” Barkov said. “It has been great to share the experience with Marchy, see what he does, how he gets ready.”
Barkov added: “I like getting to know him better. I didn’t think I would ever say that.”
The Panthers, who beat Washington 3-0 last season, face the Capitals at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Florida holds an all-time regular season series deficit of 70-49-14 with nine ties against Washington. The Panthers return home to host the Boston Bruins on Sunday at 1 p.m., with a second visit to Washington scheduled for Nov. 27 and Washington’s trip to South Florida set for Feb. 3.