Florida Panthers star week-to-week with lower-body injury

The Florida Panthers have listed forward Sam Bennett as being out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, head coach Paul Maurice told Jameson Olive of the Panthers’ official site on Friday.

Bennett, 27, had missed the first seven games of the season with a lower-body injury and sustained a second one just 7:54 into his return to play on Oct. 30 against the Boston Bruins. Bennett needed help exiting the playing surface and could not put weight on his left leg after an awkward fall with Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm behind the net in the second period of Florida’s overtime loss.

The Panthers have been dealing with injuries all season long, and it’s reflected in their up-and-down 5-3-1 record through nine games. The defending Eastern Conference champions have been bolstered by solid play in the crease from both Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz, although the latter has only made one appearance.

Missing Bennett certainly won’t help jumpstart their depth scoring, which has surprisingly been an issue through the first few weeks of the season. Only four forwards are operating at over 0.5 points per game – their entire top line of Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues, as well as Matthew Tkachuk on the second line. Players like Carter Verhaeghe (three goals, one assist in nine games) and Eetu Luostarinen (one assist in nine games) have struggled and it’s not helping matters with both Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour still sidelined on the blue line.

The Ontario-born Bennett is in the third season of a four-year, $17.7M extension he signed with the Panthers in 2021. He was limited to 63 games last season with injuries but recorded 40 points – a career-high 52-point pace across 82 games. He excelled in the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final, too, racking up 15 points in 20 games.