Brad Marchand has undergone surgery for an unspecified injury, the Florida Panthers forward said in a video released on social media.
Marchand said the surgery would be keeping him from his plan to participate in Zee’s Final Shift, a farewell charity game for his former Boston Bruins teammate Zdeno Chara, to be held in Chara’s native Trencin, Slovakia on Aug. 21.
“Unfortunately I had to have surgery,” Marchand said. “I was trying to fix without surgery but unfortunately that wasn’t able to happen and had to kind of do it last minute. With the time and the recovery I’m going to need I won’t be able to make it and play in the game.”
The 38-year-old had 54 points (27 goals, 27 assists) in 52 games for the Panthers last season, which was shortened by a lower-body injury, his last appearance coming on March 6.
“He has been dealing with something for a couple of months,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said on March 9, “(but) we have been able to maintain it.”
Marchand had missed 10 of Florida’s final 15 games before the break for the Winter Olympics in February. He had one assist while playing in four of Canada’s six games at the Olympics, including the 2-1 overtime loss to the United States in the gold-medal game.
He played in Florida’s first six games after the Olympics, with two goals and two assists, before being shut down for the season with 19 games remaining.
Marchand previously had surgery to repair a sports hernia following the 2023-24 season and hip surgery following the 2021-22 season.
He is entering his second full season with the Panthers after being acquired in a trade with the Bruins on March 7, 2025. After scoring 10 playoff goals to help Florida win its second straight Stanley Cup, he signed a six-year, $31.5 million contract (average annual value $5.25 million) with the Panthers on July 1, 2025.
Marchand has 1,034 points (451 goals, 583 assists) in 1,152 regular-season games for the Bruins and Panthers and 158 points (66 goals, 92 assists) in 180 playoff games.
The Panthers open the regular season against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sept. 29.
