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Brad Marchand will miss the start of the season for the Florida Panthers after having offseason surgery for an unspecified injury. 

Speaking on the first day of training camp Wednesday, general manager Bill Zito said Marchand should be back "early in the season," and that he wasn't worried or concerned about the forward.

Marchand said in a video posted to social media Aug. 15 that he had the surgery, and that it would keep him from playing in Zee's Final Shift, a farewell charity game for his former Boston Bruins teammate Zdeno Chara, that was held in Chara's native Trencin, Slovakia on Aug. 21.

"Unfortunately I had to have surgery," Marchand said last month. "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 game coming March 6.

Marchand missed 10 of Florida's final 15 games before the break for the 2026 Winter Olympics. He had one assist while playing in four of Team Canada's six games at the Olympics, including the 2-1 overtime loss to Team USA 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. The Panthers, who won the Stanley Cup in 2024 and 2025, did not qualify for the postseason in 2025-26.

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 ($5.25 million average annual value) 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.