Panthers regular sidelined long-term, but a couple reinforcements close to return
The hits keep coming for the Florida Panthers.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice on Friday said Cole Schwindt, who has served as one of Florida’s primary fourth-line center options this season, is sidelined long-term with a lower-body injury sustained during Florida’s 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
This is Schwindt’s second major injury of the season. He missed 26 games with a shoulder injury earlier in the campaign.
The 24-year-old center has four points (three goals, one assist) in 22 games while averaging about nine minutes of ice time per game.
“Just tough,” Maurice said, “and both times he went down, we really liked where his game was at. Going into the break, he and Villy [Sandis Vilmanis] and A.J. Greer had some great games for us, and we were pretty excited about where they could get to. But that’s, that’s our story. We’re used to it.”
Luke Kunin will draw in for Schwindt on Friday against the Buffalo Sabres.
While the Schwindt loss is the latest among a slew of losses to injuries for the Panthers this season, Florida is hoping that some of its key reinforcements will be back as soon as next week.
Maurice said forward Tomas Nosek and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov are going into the team’s next road trip “with the idea that we have to get them in at some point.”
Nosek, Florida’s main fourth-line center last season, has not played yet in the 2025-26 campaign while recovering from offseason knee surgery. Kulikov only played in Florida’s first two games before sustaining a shoulder injury.
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