Maurice on Reinhart's absence: 'I don't know how long it's gonna be'

The most consistent forward is the latest to be injured

Jan 12, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) waits for the face-off during the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images / Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

Sam Reinhart, the Florida Panthers points leader, will not travel on the team's four-game road trip which starts Sunday night at Seattle.

Reinhart was also held out of Tuesday's win against Detroit, but he scored the winning overtime goal in Thursday's 2-1 overtime win against Columbus to give the Panthers (33-29-3) their third straight win.

Coach Paul Maurice said that Reinhart has been dealing with more than one ailment, and that it's "not any one thing" that will keep him out of the lineup.

"There's a big spectrum there, of what it is," Maurice said. "I'm not concerned or optimistic -- it's right in the middle. I don't know how long it's gonna be."

Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (29), points (61), power-play goals (11) and shorthanded goals (3).

Maurice compared Reinhart's situation to Brad Marchand, who missed games on-and-off before being recently shut down.

"I know (Reinhart) scored the overtime winner, but he didn't move the way he normally moves," Maurice said. "It will be a lot like what you saw out of Brad for a while. He came back really well off the Olympics, had two goals against Toronto."

Marchand (lower-body injury), right behind Reinhart in goals scored for Florida, met with doctors this week. He last played March 6 against Detroit and there is a strong possibility he misses the rest of the season.

However, the Panthers will have several other players returning on this road trip. Forwards Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell, who both sat out Thursday's win against Columbus, will both play on Sunday at Seattle. Verhaeghe had two goals in the final two minutes on Tuesday to defeat Detroit.

Jonah Gadjovich, out since Oct. 25 with an upper-body injury, plans to travel with the team, but his status as far as any game action is uncertain. Defenseman Uvis Balinskis is expected to play at some point on the road trip. Sam Bennett, who scored five goals in his last seven games, "picked something up" in the last game, according to Maurice, and is listed day-to-day, but will make the trip to the west coast.

A lot of hope surrounds defenseman Seth Jones, who's been out with a broken collarbone since a puck hit him in a freak occurrence during the winter classic on Jan. 2.

In 40 games played before the injury, Jones had six goals and 18 assists. The Panthers are hopeful that Jones is healthy enough to play at some point during the upcoming trip.

“It took a long time to heal," Maurice said, "There was nothing he could do. It just had to heal. Obviously, you get hit in the collar bone and you have a crack there, it takes a long time to heal. Hopefully he'll get the green light today, and we'll get him pushed real hard to make sure that he's strong and there's no pain. ”