Florida Panthers Captain Aleksander Barkov avoids surgery after sustaining a lower-body injury against the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night. He fell awkwardly to the ice in a board battle midway through the second period. Barkov is expected to be out for six to eight weeks, and Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said, “That’s our best window; it could be more, it could be less.”
Aleksander Barkov missed the entire NHL season last year due to a right knee injury that involved his MCL/ACL, acquired during training camp. The Florida Panthers only played two games, and in the second period, Barkov’s worst nightmare happened again as he fell to the ice with an injury.
At first, the timeline of Barkov’s return was unknown, and there was a possibility of him missing the entire season again. There were rumors circulating about Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin joining the Panthers in a potential big trade. Now that Barkov will only miss a short amount of time, those rumors are non-existent.
Panthers’ fans and supporters all around the NHL held their breath for a few days to find out if Barkov would potentially miss this season. The good news is that he has already started rehabbing the injury to get back into the lineup in around six to eight weeks. So far this season, Barkov has zero points in the first two games he has played, but he is the most impactful player for the Panthers.
The Florida Panthers will have their home opener against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. The Panthers have been on the road to start the season. It has been a rough start to the season for them, not only losing their best player and captain, but also losing two games in a row in overtime. They did win their first game of the season against the Stanley Cup winners, the Carolina Hurricanes.
At least the Panthers have gathered points in each of the games they have played away this season. They are 1-0-2; they will look to end their road trip with a win against the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday night before heading home. The team will need to gather all the points without their captain, who will help when he returns to the lineup.
Even though the Panthers will not have Barkov in the lineup, they have plenty of depth on all four lines that can hold the fort down while he is out. Florida has Lars Eller, who will move up into Barkov’s spot. The Panthers have Brad Marchand, the Tkachuk brothers, Anton Lundell, Sam Reinhart, and Carter Verhaeghe to keep the goals coming for Florida.
The Florida Panthers might not have their Captain until the holiday season, but they still have a lot of depth and firepower to keep them afloat while he is out of the lineup. The Panthers are still heavy favorites to make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals this season. Florida missed the playoffs last season after going back-to-back to the finals in two years. Injuries caught up with them after playing the most NHL games any team has played in history.
Do not count the Panthers to be down and out this season; they will be strong and come back to the playoffs. Florida Panthers fans can breathe a sigh of relief that they received great news: their captain will only be out for a short period of time, not the entire season.
If you love sports, download Stadium Rant from the Apple App Store and join one of the fastest-growing social sports communities. Be sure to follow us on socials too — you can find all our profiles on our Linktree.
