Veteran Rodrigues on Panthers' injuries: 'It's a trickle-down effect'

The list of wounded keeps growing, but the Panthers did receive some "good news" on Monday that defenseman Niko Mikkola, who injured his knee in Friday's loss at Calgary, will not need surgery.

"He'll be weeks instead of months, probably a 4-6 week rehab and no surgery," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "We just don't want players that have injuries to make things worse."

Mikkola, who played 68 games and tallied 3 goals, 8 assists, and 81 blocked shots, will miss the Panthers remaining 13 games. Joining him will be fellow blue liner Uvis Balinskis, who will also miss 4-6 weeks with a fractured foot. Balinskis totalled 15 points in 54 games for Florida (34-32-3), at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.

Also on the injured list for Florida and not expected to play in Tuesday's home game with Seattle: Brad Marchand, Aleksander Barkov, Jonah Gadovich, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell, Cole Schwindt and Mackie Samoskevich. Also out is forward A.J. Greer, suspended for three games.

Florida Center Evan Rodrigues acknowledged the toll taken by the many injuries.

"Once the injuries pile up, it gets a little harder, and you see a lot more injuries, because everyone plays at a more elevated role and more minutes than you're used to and you see a trickle-down effect," Rodrigues said. "We'll bounce back and be ready to go next year."

On a good note, Lundell and Samoskevich both have minor injuries and shouldn't miss much time. Lundell (44 points) was “banged up” and did not take the ice on Friday in Calgary. He did did not skate Monday morning, but could play as soon as Thursday's game against Minnesota. As for Samoskevich (laceration), Maurice said 7-10 days for his return.

Marchand (54 points) continues to see doctors, and offensive leader Reinhart (61 points), who missed the four-game road trip, is also undergoing medical tests.

With the absence of Mikkola, who logged a large chunk of ice time, Gustav Forsling, Seth Jones, Dmitry Kulikov, and Aaron Ekblad are expected to get upticks in playing time on defense. Newcomer defenseman Mike Benning, called up March 12 from Charlotte, continues to draw high praise from Maurice, and may also see more ice time.

As for the veteran coach, Maurice will be coaching his 2,000th career game on Tuesday, second all-time to Scotty Bowman (2,141 games). Of those 2,000 games for Maurice, 316 and counting have been at the helm of the Panthers.