Trocheck out
Panthers hope high-scoring center can return during playoffs.
SUNRISE— There were mostly smiles while the playoff-bound Panthers stepped on the ice for their team photo at the BB&T Center on Wednesday morning, but there were also plenty of reasons for consternation when watching blossoming center Vincent Trocheck, sporting a cast on his left foot, needing help to his perch.
Trocheck, inarguably the biggest surprise of the season and arguably the most valuable player on a team full of young and old stars, apparently fractured a bone in his foot while blocking a shot from Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau in the second period of Tuesday’s desultory 5-2 loss to the 30th-ranked Toronto Maple Leafs.
Panthers coach Gerard Gallant confirmed after practice that Trocheck will miss the final six games of the regular season with the best-case scenario returning in time for the first round of the playoffs around April 14.
“Probably [be out for 10 days] and after that they’ll retest it,” Gallant said. “I don’t think it will be a long-term-thing.… We’re hopeful to get him back for the playoffs. We got to get to the playoffs first.”
Trocheck, 22, a third round pick in2011, is tied for the team lead with a careerhigh 25 goals to go with 53 points, third most on the squad. He began the season as a second-line right wing, but shifted to his natural spot at center when topliner Aleksander Barkov, 20, broke a hand in late October.
He then filled in for Nick Bjugstad for all of December when the second-line centerman from Minnesota suffered from migraines, and the team went 12-3 in his absence.
Bjugstad, 23, whose production has dropped froma team-high 24 goals last season to 13, now gets to repay the favor as he will step in for Trocheck between redhot linemates Jussi Jokinen and Reilly Smith.
“It’s definitely disappointing seeing him take a shot like that. Obviously, he took it for the team so we appreciated that, especially at this point of the season,” Bjugstad said. “I’ll definitely do my best to fulfill Trocheck’s role, which is a tough thing to do at this point.
“It’s my fault if I’m not good out there [because] those two are always working hard, always making plays. I can’t put pressure on myself, but I got to play hard.”
Jokinen, who has 58 points, including a careerhigh 41 assists, said Trocheck was playing, “the best hockey of his career.” Jaromir Jagr, who has 25 goals and 59 points, said the Panthers, “lost our best player.”
For the third time this season the Panthers recalled rookie center Rocco Grimaldi from Portland, Maine, the Panthers’ AHL affiliate. He’s expected to center the Panthers’ third line with Jiri Hudler and Teddy Purcell. The 5-foot-6, speedy Grimaldi, 23, has one goal and an assist in14 games for the Panthers, and 33 points in 52 games for Portland.
“Rocco’s a dangerous hockey player who has scored a lot of goals in his career,” Gallant said. “He’s going to get an opportunity to play center ice, a position he likes to play, so it’s a great chance for him.”
Gallant is hoping that fourth-line center Derek MacKenzie and defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who have both been out for twoweeks with similar foot injuries as Trocheck, will return either Thursday or Saturday.
“One person isn’t going to make up for what [Trocheck] has done this season,” said Smith, who has a career-high 24 goals with 47 points. “A bunch of people will have to chip in and help.
“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to [continue scoring]. We had some good chemistry, me him and Juice, but Nick’s a good player and we should be able to jell pretty quickly.”