Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – Florida captain Aleksander Barkov could be having a knee injury, a big blow to the Panthers and their pursuit of winning the Stanley Cup for the third time in a row.
Paul Maurice said Barkov was injured in his first official training camp on Thursday and was undergoing surgery on Friday.
The Star Centre is expected to miss a few months and the entire season is in danger, essentially any chance for Balkov to represent his native Finland at the Milan-Kortina Olympics in February – as he hopes and plans.
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Barkov was undergoing surgery on Friday, while Maurice was speaking to reporters. Once the surgery is over, the Panthers say they will release more details — some of them won't be known until after the procedure is over, Morris said.
“I know the idea is the next person,” Morris said. “No one can fill Bucky's skates.”
Balkov led the Panthers' assists with 51 points last season and finished second with 71 points before adding six goals and 16 assists in the playoffs when Florida won the Stanley Cup for the second straight time.
In his 12 NHL seasons, he has been out of over 86% in all Florida games, including the playoffs. This is the first time he deals with something that can make him a whole season.
This is the second major injury issue for the Panthers who have played the last three Stanley Cup finals, as the season approaches.
In addition to Barkov, the Panthers will also be without forward Matthew Tkachuk when they recover during offseason surgery to repair the torn adductor muscles. Tkachuk's return has no official goal. Given the typical return schedule for such programs, it seems unlikely that he will be broadcast by December.
Florida has only played five games since Tkachuk came to the Panthers in 2022, without him or Balkov in the roster – the Panthers won three of those five games last October.
Barkov is a franchise leader in many categories of Florida, including matches (804), goals (286), assists (496), scores (782), strong game goals (84) and goals that won the match (52).
“Of course, you're certainly not alone, you're certainly alone,” Panther forward Jesper Boqvist said on Thursday.