Florida center Aleksander Barkov has been placed on long-term injured reserve by the Panthers, meaning the injury to his left leg will keep him sidelined for at least the next 10 games and quite possibly beyond.
The Panthers are still unclear on the extent of Barkov's injury, coach Paul Maurice said, adding that Barkov will see Florida team physicians on Monday.
“We know it’s going to be 10 (games) anyway,” Maurice said after the Panthers practiced in Irvine, California. “We’ll see what they say Monday. ... I’m not the doctor here. So, we’ll see. Whatever they say.”
Florida made a pair of roster additions after placing Barkov on the injured list Saturday, bringing up center Sam Lafferty and defenseman Alexander Petrovic.
Barkov was hurt midway through the second period of Florida's 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. He was jostling for the puck along the boards, got pushed by the Sharks' Darnell Nurse and awkwardly fell to the ice with his left leg at an unnatural angle. It appeared his knee buckled on the play.
Barkov remained down for a few moments, then got up and headed toward the tunnel leading to the Florida dressing room. He walked with a bit of a limp and appeared to angrily try to throw off his gloves as he moved toward the room.
Barkov — Florida's captain and a huge part of the Panthers' runs to Stanley Cup championships in 2024 and 2025 — missed the entire 2025-26 season with torn ligaments in his right knee. He went scoreless in his first two appearance of this season for Florida, which plays Sunday at Anaheim.
There was some good injury news Saturday, with Maurice saying that forward Brad Marchand is getting closer to making his season debut — “real close,” Maurice said — and that defenseman Gustav Forsling, who had the overtime goal in the opener at Carolina but was a last-minute scratch at San Jose with an upper body issue, is a game-time decision for Sunday.
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