Aaron Ekblad has stepped away from the Panthers to be with his family, with the team's broadcast calling it a personal matter.
It is not injury related. That's the one detail that matters for hockey purposes, and everything else belongs to the defenceman and his family.
The timing still stretches Florida thin. Aleksander Barkov is now on injured reserve with a knee injury and is expected out until at least Oct. 27.
That's a big update from the "some time" Elliotte Friedman described after the knee scare in San Jose.
Gustav Forsling is also day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Paul Maurice is suddenly juggling the absence of his top center and two key defencemen at once.
Ekblad, 30, carries a $6,100,000 cap hit and had an assist in his first two games.
Aleksander Barkov's knee keeps him out until at least late October
Barkov carries a $10,000,000 cap hit, and the Panthers will be without him through home dates with Minnesota, Vancouver and Seattle.
The road won't be gentle either. Florida visits Los Angeles on Tuesday, then faces Buffalo and Columbus on a back-to-back next week.
Family comes first, and nobody in Florida should think twice about it. The Panthers will cover the minutes, and Ekblad should take every day he needs.
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Losing this many pieces in one week is like a restaurant losing the head cook, the sous-chef and the oven on the same night.
The Dylan Larkin rumours will pick up again with Barkov out until late October. Bill Zito already showed his aggression by putting an offer on the table for Connor Hellebuyck.
The Panthers sit at 1-0-1, with plenty of hockey ahead before their captain returns.
There's no timeline for Ekblad, and there doesn't need to be one. How Maurice patches the lineup around everyone else is where the real test begins.
Should the Panthers make a trade with Aleksander Barkov out until late October?
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