The Florida Panthers will be without forward Jonathan Huberdeau for 3-4 months after the young forward suffered a skate laceration earlier this week.
The incident happened while the 23-year-old was fighting for control of the puck behind the net in a pre-season game yesterday against the New Jersey Devils. Huberdeau apparently got tangled up with Devils winger Sergei Kalinin, with Kalinin’s skate coming down on Huberdeau’s ankle during the play. Huberdeau had to be helped off the ice following the play.
“It doesn’t look good right now, but until we get the MRI, we don’t know a whole lot,” said Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant after the game. “He got cut pretty bad with the skate. We’ll see what happens. We’re obviously hoping for the best. Will it be two weeks? Two months? We don’t have a timeframe. The MRI will tell us a lot. You have to move on. He’s a real good player. But we’ll make no excuses. Injuries are part of every team.”
Panthers General Manager Tom Rowe later confirmed that Huberdeau would be out for 3-4 months as a result of the injury.
The team also recently lost center Nick Bjugstad for a month to a broken hand.
