The Florida Panthers have been without forwards Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand since the first week of the NHL season. Head coach Paul Maurice announced Thursday that both forwards started skating Wednesday. This is good news for Florida Panthers fans. Maurice said both are on track to be back at their scheduled time. Barkov is expected to miss about another month and Marchand about three weeks.
Florida Panthers Forwards Set To Return
Forwards Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand have missed time since the beginning of the NHL season due to unexpected knee injuries that occurred during the first week of the season. Barkov will miss another month, which will most likely put him out till after Thanksgiving. Brad Marchand can return as soon as three weeks. Barkov missed the entire NHL season last season with a knee injury, while Marchand also was hurt last season and missed a lot of time at the end of the season.
Paul Maurice said to the media, “We are happy with where they are at; once they hit the ice, they will travel with us exclusively. They are here every day. They have an injury skate, and then, at some point, they will move into the main group.”
Florida forward Sam Bennett said “Those are two massive pieces to this team, “Obviously we feel it when they are not in the lineup. Just hoping they can get back in the lineup sooner rather than later.”
The Panthers are also without their starting goaltender, Jacob Markstrom, who suffered an upper-body injury at practice. He was set to return to the lineup 10-14 days after the incident. Maurice also gave an update on the goaltender, saying he will be back soon enough; he’s not far. Markstrom is skating as well for the Panthers; he could return while the Panthers are on a three-game homestand, but time will tell.
Florida Panthers Reset
The Florida Panthers missed the playoffs last season due to injuries that affected almost half of their team. The former Stanley Cup champions are still off to a good start this season at 7-4-2 with 16 points. The Panthers will return home Friday night and play against the Winnipeg Jets.
The Panthers have been breaking history in recent games despite not having their top two players, with others such as Brady Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe having “natural” hat tricks. Also, Sam Bennett has had a hat trick this season. In addition, having back-up goaltender Akira Schmid filling in for Jacob Markstrom has been stellar for Florida.
End Of My Florida Panthers Rant
The Florida Panthers are certainly lucky that both injuries to the forwards were not season-ending. As it has only been 13 games into the season, the Panthers are grateful that they will have Barkov, Marchand, and Markstrom all back in the lineup in just a few weeks. The Panthers will be back in full force and a danger to any team in the NHL once they have the captain and instigator back on the ice. The Panthers are a tough team to play against, and they will be even more relentless once the full team is back.
