Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones (3) looks to pass the puck as Carolina Hurricanes left wing William Carrier (28) defends in the first period of their NHL game at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla.
Photo by Matias J. Ocner
mocner@miamiherald.com
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice provided a slew of injury and lineup updates ahead of the team’s upcoming road trip, which starts Sunday at the Seattle Kraken (8 p.m., Scripps Sports) then continues Tuesday at the Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m., Scripps), Thursday at the Edmonton Oilers (9 p.m., Scirpps) and Friday at the Calgary Flames (9 p.m., Scripps).
Here’s the full rundown:
Forward Sam Reinhart
Panthers forward Sam Reinhart, who scored the team’s game-winning overtime goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, will not travel with the team on the four-game trip.
The exact reasoning for Reinhart’s absence is undisclosed but he did miss Florida’s 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings as the Panthers monitor his and other players’ playing time down the stretch of the season.
“Everybody’s dealing with something,” Maurice said, “so we’re trying to get some guys back to feeling good.”
Reinhart leads the Panthers with goals (29), assists (32) and points (61).
Defenseman Seth Jones
Maurice said the Panthers expect defenseman Seth Jones, who has not played since breaking his collarbone blocking a shot during the Winter Classic on Jan. 2, to be available to play on this trip.
Jones had 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in 40 games prior to the injury while averaging nearly 23-and-a-half minutes of ice time per game.
“He went through it,” Maurice said. “It took a long time to heal, and there was nothing he could do. It just had to heal. Hopefully get the green light today before he goes, and then we’ll get him pushed real hard here to see if we can make sure he’s strong.”
Forward Sam Bennett
Forward Sam Bennett will travel but is day-to-day after he “picked something up” in Florida’s overtime win over Columbus.
Bennett has 50 points (24 goals, 26 assists) this season while averaging a career-high 18-and-a-half minutes of ice time per game. He’s one point shy of his single-season career-high and four goals shy of his career high.
Forwards Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell
Both forwards Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell are expected to be back in the lineup Sunday against Seattle after missing Thursday’s win against Columbus.
Verhaeghe has 19 goals and 46 points in 63 games this season. Lundell has 17 goals and 43 points in 61 games.
Forward Brad Marchand
Maurice said there is still no definitive answer on what comes next for Brad Marchand, who is potentially on the path to season-ending surgery for a lingering lower-body injury. He saw doctors this week.
“Don’t have an answer for you on Brad,” Maurice said. “There’s doctors, a bunch of really smart guys, looking at him to figure out what it is and the best way to proceed.”
Forward Jonah Gadjovich
Fourth-line forward Jonah Gadjovich, who hasn’t played since Oct. 25 and had surgery in early November for an unspecified upper-body injury, could potentially return to the lineup at the end of the road trip.
Defenseman Uvis Balinskis
Defenseman Uvis Balinskis, who is dealing with a lower-body injury sustained after blocking a shot against the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 27, will be on the trip and could potentially return to the lineup during one of the games.
Maurice said Thursday Balinskis would not return until he was 100%.
Lineup possibilities
The Panthers’ projected lineup for the game against Seattle on Sunday, based on practice Saturday, should be as follows
Forward lines
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Matthew Tkachuk
Carter Verhaeghe-Evan Rodrigues-Mackie Samoskevich
Cole Reinhardt-Tomas Nosek-A.J. Greer
Jesper Boqvist-Luke Kunin-Vinnie Hinostroza
Defense pairs
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Mike Benning
Donovan Sebrango-Dmitry Kulikov
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Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.