"Vinny is a tremendous competitor and leader for our club," general manager Dale Tallon said Wednesday. "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 was injured when he hit the end boards in the Senators zone fighting for control of the puck with Ottawa forward Ryan Dzingel during a penalty kill. Trocheck left the game with 1:47 remaining in the first period.
"You hate to see that. He's a great leader and a great guy in the room," Panthers center Juho Lammikko said. "Everybody has to come together and play good team hockey, good defense. It changes a little bit but we have to keep going."
Trocheck has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 18 games this season. He was second on the Panthers with 75 points (31 goals, 44 assists) last season, behind Aleksander Barkov (78 points; 27 goals, 51 assists).
Defenseman Keith Yandle said all of the Panthers have to fill the void left by Trocheck.
"It's got to be by committee. You realize how much he does for our team even off the ice," Yandle said. "But in the game he plays in every situation. He's relied upon heavy in all three zones. It's one of those things where we can't just expect one guy to step up, it's going to take a bunch of us."
