Panthers' Marchand skates in Boston, but remains out week-to-week
Published
Brad Marchand took part in his first skate with the Florida Panthers Tuesday, but he will not make his team debut in Boston.
Marchand was in a regular jersey in Tuesday's gameday skate as Florida gets set to play the Boston Bruins and worked on a line with Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe.
However, head coach Paul Maurice said after the session that the team simply remains hopeful Marchand will play before the end of the regular season. He labelled Tuesday's skate as progress, but noted it doesn't change Marchand's status as he remains out week-to-week.
The Bruins stunningly traded Marchand to their division rivals ahead of the trade deadline on Friday for a conditional second-round pick. The pick will upgrade to a first if Florida reaches the Eastern Conference Final with Marchand playing in at least 50 per cent of their games.
The 36-year-old forward has been out since March 1 due to an upper-body injury. He has 21 goals and 47 points in 61 games this season.
Florida will play their first game with defenceman Aaron Ekblad on Tuesday after the 29-year-old was suspended 20 games on Monday for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.
Seth Jones, who was acquired less than a week before the trade deadline, will move to the Panthers' top pairing beside Gustav Forsling and take over for Ekblad on the team's top power play unit.
“Next man up, that’s the system we play," Jones said Tuesday. "Obviously Aaron’s a big part of this team – special teams, 5-on-5, everything. It’s every defenseman’s job to be a little bit better, you know, 10-15 per cent better and fill that void.”
Ekblad has three goals and 33 points in 56 games this season while averaging 23:30 of ice time.
Jones, 30, is without a point in his first three games with the Panthers, averaging 21:03 of ice time. He had seven goals and 27 points in 42 games with the Chicago Blackhawks before the trade.