Video: Brad Marchand Apologizes For Late Surgery, Doubtful To Start Season

The Florida Panthers' 2025-26 season was derailed by injuries right off the bat, with Aleksander Barkov going down for the year in training camp. They'll now be facing another issue before camp even gets underway, though hopefully not as major of a deal. 

Brad Marchand has undergone surgery and is doubtful for the start of the new season. He has apologized to fans for the last-minute nature of his decision. 

Marchand had tried to rehab an officially undisclosed lingering injury from last season, but in the end, he had no choice but to go under the knife this past week.

He let fans know about the surgery by releasing a video to apologize, as he would have to miss a charity game this week in Slovakia organized by his former Boston Bruins teammate Zdeno Chara.

Here is the video of Marchand revealing that he had to have a last minute surgery. pic.twitter.com/cuyQkxopg7 https://t.co/ADDKDe4Yvn

— Locked On Tkachuk Era (@LO_FLAPanthers) August 14, 2026

Marchand apologizes to fans in video for last-minute surgery

“I just wanted to send you a note and first off apologize, I won’t be able to make Z’s game," Marchand said in the video. "Unfortunately, I had to have a surgery. I was trying to fix (the injury) without surgery, but unfortunately that wasn’t able to happen and had to kind of do it last minute, and with the time and the recovery I’m going to need, I’m not going to be able to make it and play in the game, unfortunately."

George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports that Marchand was believed to be dealing with a hip and sports hernia injury, and suggests the timeline could be at least two months or more. Training camp opens in about a month, and the season a couple of weeks later. The Panthers could be looking at opening the campaign without the gritty 38-year-old forward. 

Marchand battled the injuries much of the year, and was shut down for the final 19 games of last season, with the Panthers out of the playoffs. He still finished the campaign with 27 goals and 54 points in 52 games.