Aaron Ekblad Scratched Against Ducks With Classic 'Undisclosed' Injury

Aaron Ekblad is officially out against the Anaheim Ducks with an "undisclosed injury," which in NHL speak could mean anything from a bruised rib to a missing limb.

Daily Faceoff reported the scratch just as the Florida Panthers were gearing up for their matchup in Anaheim. Losing your top-pairing defenseman is never ideal, but it stings a little extra when you are trying to bounce back from a weird road loss.

"Daily Faceoff reported the injury update via Twitter."

Florida is coming off a 4-3 defeat to the San Jose Sharks, which is the kind of result that makes a coaching staff want to lock the locker room doors. Before that, they squeezed out a tight 1-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Now they have to navigate the Ducks without their anchor on the blue line eating up massive minutes.

Anaheim is not exactly a pushover right now, either. They just knocked off the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3. Anyone looking at the betting board and expecting the Panthers to easily handle the Ducks might want to recalculate how much Florida's defensive structure relies on Ekblad being on the ice.

The Panthers play the Los Angeles Kings next on October 7 to wrap up this California swing. Until Florida decides to actually disclose what "undisclosed" means, Ekblad's status for the rest of the road trip is a giant question mark.