Florida Panthers’ Anthony Duclair suffers major Achilles injury, out long-term

The Florida Panthers are determined to follow up on their Presidents’ Trophy-winning 2021-22 with a deeper run into the spring in 2022-23 after getting swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the playoffs. They’ve already geared up with a new head coaching hire in Paul Maurice. But they may have lost one of their most important forwards for a significant portion of next season.

As reported Wednesday by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, forward Anthony Duclair, 26, suffered an Achilles tendon injury during offseason training, which might require surgery and months of recovery. The official timetable will depend on the surgery and is not yet known.

An optimistic Panther fan may envision an LTIR situation that would free up salary cap space for GM Bill Zito to pursue other offseason upgrades, but the truth is that the speedy Duclair will be difficult to replace. He’s coming off a stellar season in which he set career highs in goals with 31 and points with 58. He was one of the most efficient scorers in the NHL, posting those numbers despite averaging just 15 minutes of ice time per game. Among 387 forwards who played at least 500 minutes at 5-on-5 this season, Duclair sat 33^rd in goals per 60 minutes, placing him in the 91^st percentile.

After bouncing around with several NHL teams during a run of inconsistent seasons with flashes of brilliance, Duclair had turned his career around as a Panther after they took at chance on him with a one-year, $1.7-million deal for the 2020-21 season. After he flourished, they rewarded him with a three-year extension at a $3-million AAV starting in 2021-22. Duclair has been a force as a top-six forward in the potent Florida lineup, averaging 29 goals and 63 points per 82 games in his two seasons with the team.