Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad of Windsor, Ontario is out long term with a groin injury. Ekblad suffered the injury in a 5-3 Panthers loss to the Boston Bruins on Monday night at Toronto Dominion Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Ekblad played 15 minutes and 10 seconds in the contest and was a -1 with four penalty minutes and two shots on goal. He suffered the injury in the second period and the injury was initially called a Grade 2 groin strain.
History of Injuries
Ekblad has had his fair share of ailments in recent years. They include concussion injuries in the 2015-16 season and 2016-17 season, a broken leg on March 28, 2021, and a knee injury on March 18, 2022. The first concussion injury came on January 10, 2016, when Ekblad was a recipient of a hit from a hard bodycheck by Matt Hendricks of the Edmonton Oilers. Hendricks received a three game suspension for the incident. Ekblad’s broken leg meanwhile came from a collision with Esa Lindell of the Dallas Stars.
2022-23 Season
Ekblad has one goal in three games with the Panthers this season. He is also a +1 with four penalty minutes, one power-play point, seven shots on goal, one blocked shot, four hits, two takeaways and two giveaways. Ekblad’s goal came in a 4-3 Florida win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. It was a power-play marker from Aleksander Barkov of Tampere, Finland and Sam Reinhart of Vancouver, British Columbia at 2:31 of the third period which put the Panthers up 3-2 at the time.
Panthers Statement
According to nhl.com, Panthers General Manager Bill Zito said the following:
“Not happy about it, 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.”
When is Ekblad expected back?
At this time, the hope is that Ekblad will return sometime in the middle or late November.
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