Brad Marchand Says His Panthers Return Will Wait Until December

Brad Marchand will not return to the Florida Panthers until next month, NHL.com reported on Thursday. Marchand spoke on Thursday morning at the unveiling of the new jetBlue Panthers themed livery at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, and his own words set a slower timeline than the one his coach gave last week, Florida Hockey Now reported.

Marchand said he would be back soon enough, and that he cannot say it is this month, but probably within five weeks, six weeks, Florida Hockey Now reported. That points to a December return. Coach Paul Maurice said last week that Marchand could be back in as few as three weeks, and now it looks like it will be about a month, NHL.com reported.

The October 6 injury

Marchand was injured on October 6 in a game against the Los Angeles Kings, when he was pulled down by Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke while going hard to the net, his left leg collapsed beneath him, and he crashed into the boards, NHL.com reported. Marchand had to be helped off the ice by Niko Mikkola and Brady Tkachuk, Florida Hockey Now reported. The Panthers said on October 9 that Marchand would miss six weeks. Florida Hockey Now, summarising Maurice remarks, described the injury in earlier coverage as a left knee injury sustained on October 6 in Los Angeles.

Marchand spoke about the recovery itself in the NHL.com report. "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 are working through it," Marchand said, in the NHL.com report.

Barkov is also out

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov is also skating while recovering. Maurice said Barkov would be out another three weeks and Barkov did not have a timeline in the Florida Hockey Now report, while NHL.com said Barkov was said to be out 6 to 8 weeks with his injury, so a return at the end of November or the start of December appears likely, the two reports said.

The Panthers are 9-5-2 and next play Saturday at the Washington Capitals, NHL.com reported. For now, the timeline that counts is the player own one: not this month, probably five to six weeks, which puts Marchand return in December, about two months after the October 6 injury that the club first priced at six weeks.