Florida Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck will be out indefinitely following surgery on his fractured ankle.
Trocheck fell awkwardly during Monday's game against the Ottawa Senators and was forced to leave the ice on a stretcher. The veteran is expected to miss a significant amount of time due to the ankle fracture.
"Vinny is a tremendous competitor and leader for our club," said Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Dale Tallon. "It's never easy to see a player and person like him suffer an injury like this, but we are confident that he will make a full recovery and be back on the ice with our team this season."
The 25-year old is considered a major part of Florida's future and the team will likely play it safe with Trocheck. Whether he returns could be dependent on the team's placement in the standings. The Panthers are unlikely to bring Trocheck back this season unless he is 100 percent healed from the injury.
Trocheck amassed 14 points over Florida's first 18 games in the 2018-19 season, with three of those being goals. The Panthers meanwhile sit near the basement of the conference standings, and Trocheck's absence will only make a climb more difficult.
Prior to this season, Trocheck had shown improvements in each of his NHL campaigns. In 2017-18, the forward had a career-high 75 points and played in all of Florida's 82 games. This marked the second consecutive season that Trocheck was on the ice for every Florida contest. Trocheck was also named to the 2017 NHL All-Star Game.
Florida will be back in action without Trocheck on Wednesday night, when it visits the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:30 p.m.
