- The Panthers captain is reportedly facing a long recovery from the left leg injury he suffered in San Jose
- Barkov missed all of last season after surgery on his right knee
- Read below for the Barkov injury video and how many games he could miss
Aleksander Barkov might not play again until the holidays.
Locked On Panthers host Armando Velez reported Monday morning that Barkov’s injury will keep him out somewhere in the range of 10 to 12 weeks. Velez added that the timeline would have the captain back around Christmas or New Year’s.
Florida hasn’t put a timeline out itself. Paul Maurice said Saturday that Barkov would see team doctors on Monday, and that the club already knew he’d be gone for a while after it moved him to long-term injured reserve.
Maurice was asked about the next step after practice in Irvine.
“Barky’s going to see our doctors on Monday,” Maurice said. “We know that it’s going to be 10 [games] anyway, so we’ll see what they say.”
That LTIR move made Oct. 27 the earliest possible return date. A 10-to-12-week recovery wipes that out.
The schedule shows how big that hole is. A Christmas return lines up with Florida’s Dec. 26 home game against Tampa Bay, which would mean 35 missed games. If it drifts to New Year’s, the Jan. 2 home date with Montreal is the next realistic target, and that’s 39 games without him.
Barkov got hurt in the second period of last Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Sharks. He was battling Darnell Nurse and Zack Ostapchuk for the puck in the corner when his left leg gave out, and he went straight to the dressing room.
Watch the Barkov injury video:
On the night of the injury, Maurice said it has nothing to do with the right knee that cost Barkov all of 2025-26. He tore his ACL and MCL on the first day of training camp last year and needed surgery.
It’s a cruel turn. Barkov captained Finland to gold at the World Championship in May and logged over 20 minutes in Florida’s opener in Carolina. San Jose was only his second game back.
Anton Lundell and Sam Bennett will have to carry the middle of the ice. The Panthers already dropped a 3-2 overtime decision in Anaheim on Sunday without him, though Brad Marchand’s return gave them a lift with a late tying goal.
A three-time Selke winner, Barkov has 782 points in 806 career games. He’s still waiting on his first point of 2026-27, and now it probably won’t come until the calendar flips.
