Montour, Ekblad, Bennett are close to Florida Panthers returns. Here’s the latest
The Florida Panthers could very soon have three key players back in the lineup.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice on Friday said defenseman Brandon Montour and center Sam Bennett both could realistically return during the team’s three-game West Coast trip that starts next week. Star defenseman Aaron Ekblad could also return in the not-so-distant future as well.
The Panthers play the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m. Friday and Chicago Blackhawks at 1 p.m. Sunday on home ice at Amerant Bank Arena before that three-game trip that includes games Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks, Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings and Nov. 17 against the Anaheim Ducks.
For Montour and Ekblad, their next game would be his season debut after spending the offseason and first month of the 2023-24 season recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Maurice said the Panthers are in a “10-day window” for the defensemen.
Montour, 29, is coming off a breakout season in which he set career highs in goals (16), assists (57) and points (73) over 80 regular-season games before adding another 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ekblad, in his 10th season, has dealt with injuries and inconsistency the past two seasons but is the Panthers’ longest-tenured defenseman.
That said, the Panthers are continuing a cautious approach with both Montour and Ekblad.
Maurice has said Ekblad’s timetable for return is about a week behind Montour’s because Ekblad had his surgery about a week later. Montour and Ekblad have both been practicing with the full group for about two weeks now.
Even when they return, Maurice said he plans to ease them back in — for example, it’s unlikely they play both ends of a back-to-back (like the one they have against the Kings and Ducks on the next road trip).
“We’re not putting five months into this to bring him back a day early,” Maurice said. “We’re going to be as comfortable and confident as we can be that they’re ready to go. ... It’d be a chance for one, possibly two. I wouldn’t put them in at the start of a back to-back so it may only be one, but we’re in the 10-day window where I think we are going to see these guys back.”
As for Bennett, he made his season debut on Oct. 30 against the Boston Bruins after dealing with a lower-body injury sustained at the end of the preseason but left the game in the second period after Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindolhm landed awkwardly on Bennett’s left leg near Boston’s net. Bennett had to be helped off the ice.
Bennett, Florida’s primary second-line center, was on the ice during the Panthers’ morning skate on Friday — his first time on the ice in a team setting since that Boston game.
“He is going to get a full, hard practice [Saturday], and he feels good today, so if he feels good coming off that, it’ll be up to the medical people and him to decide what game he wants,” Maurice said. “There is a chance it would be Chicago [on Sunday], but I doubt that. I think because of what happened I think we are going to sit back and give him at least one more day, but he is going to be on that road trip for sure.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2023 at 11:55 AM.
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