The Florida Panthers are looking forward to getting the season started, but they'll have to do so without some of their key players as they rehab. One of those players happens to be forward Brad Marchand, who had offseason surgery. Many were wondering when Marchand would be back on the ice for the Panthers, and it looks like it won't be anytime in October.

“When speaking to the media on Thursday, head coach Paul Maurice revealed that forward Brad Marchand is going to be out for the entire month of October due to rehab, while forward Jonah Gadjovich is also out indefinitely,” Tyler Kuehl of Daily Faceoff wrote.

“It was well known that Marchand wasn’t going to be in the lineup at the start of the 2026-27 season. The veteran winger underwent surgery for an unspecified injury in August, with general manager Bill Zito stating that the Panthers are hopeful Marchand will return ‘early in the season.'”

Article Continues Below

Marchand missed the last 19 games of last season because of his undisclosed injury, but it's uncertain if that was linked to the surgery.

“Unfortunately I had to have surgery,” the two-time Stanley Cup champion said in a video on social media in August. “I was trying to fix without surgery but unfortunately that wasn’t able to happen and had to kind of do it last minute. With the time and the recovery I’m going to need I won’t be able to make it and play in the game.”

The hope is that Marchand can return sooner rather than later so the Panthers can stay in contention.