Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov injured during training camp

Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald on Sep 25, 2025

Published in Hockey

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Aleksander Barkov, the captain of the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, sustained an apparent right leg injury during training camp on Thursday.

The injury happened during a non-contact drill, with Barkov falling to his knees shortly before a minor collision with defenseman Niko Mikkola. Barkov laid on the ice for several minutes before a pair of staff members helped him to the dressing room. Barkov put very little weight on his right leg while leaving the ice.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after the practice session that Barkov was still getting looked at and the team should have more clarity on Friday.

“It’s beyond our control,” Maurice said. “If we have to learn to win hockey games without good players, if that’s the adversity or the test that we face this year, then that’s what we’re going to do. I’m not a doctor, so whatever the report is won’t affect how we handle the next days. If he’s not in the lineup on Opening Night or if he misses an exhibition game or if he’s out long-term, it’s just not gonna affect that day. We’ve gotta win hockey games. We’ve gotta prep for it. That’s all.”

The Panthers are already without two key forwards for extended time. Star winger Matthew Tkachuk out until at least December while recovering from offseason surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia. Meanwhile, fourth-line center Tomas Nosek is expected to be out multiple months after having surgery for a lower-body injury.

Fourth-line winger Jonah Gadjovich also was not on the ice for practice during the team session Thursday but skated individually afterward.

Barkov, entering his eighth season as Florida’s captain and 13th season with the Panthers overall, owns the franchise records for career games played (804), goals (286), assists (496), points (782), power-play goals (84) and game-winning goals (52). He is a three-time winner of the Selke Trophy, given annually to the NHL’s best defensive forward, including each of the past two seasons.

“You never want to see him go down,” forward Jesper Boqvist said.

It was the first practice session of Panthers training camp that featured the team’s expected roster on the ice in a team setting. Maurice gave them the first week of camp to focus on individual work.

That group of regulars is slated to play in the Panthers’ two home preseason games — Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes (6 p.m.) and Oct. 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m.).

Pending Barkov’s status, those will be Maurice’s main opportunities to experiment with different forward lines before Florida opens the season Oct. 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks to begin its quest for a three-peat.

“Within reason,” Maurice said of the potential line changes. “The veteran players here are going to play two exhibition games. If we get a chance to look at something that we haven’t seen before, we would like to do that in those two, but really what we’ve always done — and this is kind of how we’ve always operated — if somebody’s going down, that’s where you get the chance to look at possibly a new combination. At the same time, we wouldn’t have reached the level of arrogance in thinking that we’re just going to go out there and try a bunch of things to see if it works. We’re also going to win hockey games. We would also adhere to some things that we’ve seen before that work well.”