Panthers’ Evan Rodrigues could be out 4-6 weeks with broken finger
The injury bug continues to plague the Florida Panthers this season.
The Panthers lost yet another player to an injury during Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, as forward Evan Rodrigues will be out for what could be up to 4-6 weeks due to a broken finger, according to Florida head coach Paul Maurice.
Per Maurice, Rodrigues has a broken finger, could be 4-6 weeks depending on if surgery is needed
Maurice told the media after Thursday’s loss that Rodrigues timeline for return could see him missing 4-6 weeks if surgery is required. If that’s the case, he likely won’t return until the first or second round of the playoffs, which would essentially end his season with the Panthers already 15 points out of a playoff spot with 11 games remaining in the season.
It’s unclear what caused Rodrigues’ injury, as he played just one shift in Thursday’s loss before departing from the game. He didn’t block any shots on the shift, meaning it wasn’t from taking a puck to the finger, so it likely occurred from some other happening on the shift.
Rodrigues had produced up to his usual standards this season with 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points in 69 games.
At this point in time, who will replace Rodrigues in the lineup for Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders is not known. Every forward healthy scratch for Thursday’s loss is either suspended or injured, so unless someone gets healthy, the Panthers will need to recall a forward from the AHL. That, or they can go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen and play Uvis Balinskis.
Rodrigues’ injury adds to the pile of injuries the Panthers have had to deal with this season. At this point in time, Aleksander Barkov, Jonah Gadjovich, Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart, Mackie Samoskevich and Cole Schwindt are out of the lineup, while they’ve also been without Seth Jones, Dmitri Kulikov, Tomas Nosek and Matthew Tkachuk for large portions of the season. Only Sam Bennett and Gustav Forsling have played at least 70 games this season.
The Panthers currently have the eighth-worst record in the league with a 35-33-3 record, meaning they are currently projected to get their first-round pick this season due to the top-10 protection in the Jones trade. They’ll continue to play out a forgettable season when they visit the Islanders on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.