Aaron Ekblad was placed on long-term injured reserve by the Florida Panthers on Wednesday with a lower-body injury.
The defenseman left in the second period of a 5-3 loss at the Boston Bruins on Monday. He has one goal in three games this season and 292 points (98 goals, 194 assists) in 557 regular-season games since the Panthers chose him with the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.
“Not happy about it,” general manager Bill Zito said Wednesday. “And obviously we’re concerned for him as a person first, but I mean, he’ll be back. It’s not a season-ending thing. We have every reason to believe he’ll be back at 100 percent. This is something that just happens in the normal course.”
Ekblad has three seasons left on an eight-year contract he agreed to on July 2, 2016. He became Florida’s points leader among defensemen when he passed Robert Svehla with three assists in a 5-3 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on March 17. The 2015 Calder Trophy winner voted as the NHL rookie of the year had surgery to repair a fracture in his lower extremities sustained against the Dallas Stars on March 28, 2021, that kept out the rest of the season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Anthony Duclair remains on track to return in the next few months from surgery on his Achilles. The forward had surgery in July after he set NHL career highs in goals (31) and points (58) in 74 games last season.
“He’s tracking as planned,” Zito said. “I think it’s a December, January type situation. Don’t hold me to it as far as the progress that he makes, but he’s pretty diligent. He’s working hard and having had an Achilles (injury) myself — I don’t I think [recovered] as quickly as he did — but it can change. So, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
NHL.com independent correspondent Alain Poupart contributed to this report
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