Anthony Duclair out for months after surgery.

The Florida Panthers have announced some unfortunate news.

On Saturday, the Panthers revealed that veteran forward Anthony Duclair would be out for a significant length of time due to a serious injury he suffered at some point during the previous season. The announcement, which was made by Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito, revealed that Duclair had undergone successful surgery to repair an Achilles tendon and would miss the next several months while recovering from the injury and the subsequent surgery.

The Panthers did not provide any kind of timeline for Duclair's return, which suggests to me that they expect him to be out for quite some time, with the team only acknowledging that they expect him to return sometime mid-season during the 2022 - 2023 regular season. That leaves a rather large window for Duclair's return, but it also indicates that he's going to be out for several months at the very least.

While this is a tough break for the Florida Panthers it probably is an even tougher break for Duclair himself. Duclair rewarded the Panthers, who signed him to a 3 year deal worth $9 million in total one year ago this month, by having what was inarguably the best season of his NHL career this past season. 

Over the course of the past 74 games Duclair recorded 31 goals, a career best, and added 27 assists, also a career best, for a total of 58 points in a single season, also the high watermark for his NHL career. It was something of a vindication for Duclair who has never been able to maintain his position within a team for any length of time, bouncing between the New York Rangers, Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blues Jackets, Ottawa Senators and finally the Florida Panthers since being drafted in the third round (80th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the aforementioned Rangers.

In spite of his reputation as a difficult player to manage, Duclair has seemingly found a home with the Florida Panthers and was also setting himself up for a significant raise in the not-so-distant future. Whether or not he will be able to regain that form after such a major setback remains to be seen.