The Florida Panthers will be without veteran center Tomas Nosek for several months due to a knee injury he picked up during summer training, the team announced Wednesday.
General manager Bill Zito broke the news to reporters, including George Richards of Florida Hockey Now.
The timing helps explain why the Panthers have been busy lately signing depth forwards. They’ve grabbed Luke Kunin on a minimum contract and invited both Noah Gregor and Tyler Motte to try out for the team.
Nosek, 33, was supposed to anchor the Panthers’ fourth line this season. It’s a role he knows well – he spent most of last year centering Jonah Gadjovich and A.J. Greer when healthy.
But staying healthy has been tough for the Czech veteran lately. He missed the first month of last season with an injury, and the year before that, he sat out more than half the games with the Devils due to various problems, including another knee issue.
Despite the setbacks, Nosek’s career has had some pretty special moments. He scored the first-ever home goal for the Vegas Golden Knights in their debut season. And last year, after signing with Florida for the league minimum, he finally got his hands on the Stanley Cup.
He’s played nearly 500 NHL games across 10 seasons, but his scoring touch isn’t what it used to be. Last year, he only managed one goal on 47 shots in 59 games, playing less than 10 minutes per night.
Still, he’s really good at what he does – checking opponents and winning faceoffs. He’s never had a season where he won less than half his draws.
The Panthers will probably turn to Jesper Boqvist to fill in at center. While he’s been playing mostly wing lately, he’s got more experience at center than the team’s other options.
There’s also some salary cap juggling to deal with. Even with Nosek and Matthew Tkachuk (who’s also injured) going on long-term injured reserve, the Panthers still need to cut about $700,000 to meet NHL roster rules for opening night.
