Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice told reporters on Saturday that Sasha Barkov would be returning to Florida to see team medical personnel to determine the severity of his recent injury.
Barkov appeared to sustain an injury to his left knee after losing his footing while battling for a puck in the corner during the second period of Florida’s game at San Jose on Thursday night.
The Panthers placed Barkov on LTIR on Saturday meaning their captain will miss at least 10 games and 24 days of action. The earliest Barkov could return is Oct. 27 against the host Winnipeg Jets.
”Barky’s going to see our doctors on Monday,’’ Maurice said after Saturday’s practice in Irvine, Calif. “We put him on LTIR knowing it was going to be 10 [games] anyway. We’ll see what they say on Monday. … I’m not the doctor here, so whatever they say.’’
Barkov missed all of last season after having reconstructive surgery on his right knee, an injury that was known to be a bad one as soon as it happened.
This does not appear to be that.
Maurice said the Panthers are not going to worry about the future, but just “handle our day.’’
”We had a good practice,’’ Maurice continued. “Barky is here. He’s moving around. We made fun of him for taking so much time off.’’
As for how the Panthers will deal with the Barkov in the short term: Sam Lafferty was brought up from AHL Charlotte on Saturday and will likely center the fourth line.
Maurice put Lars Eller up on the top line with Brady Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart after Barkov got hurt — and kept that trio together on Saturday.
Lafferty, 31, has played 378 NHL games with Pittsburgh, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, and Buffalo. Florida signed him as a free agent this summer.
According to FloridaPanthers.com reporter Jameson Olive, Gus Forsling left Saturday’s workout after about 10 minutes.
Forsling did not play on Thursday night, and may not play on Sunday, either, since Florida also brought Alexander Petrovic up from Charlotte.
”Game-time,’’ Maurice said of Forsling. “Feels pretty good, we just wanted to give him another day without banging on him.’’
Maurice also told reporters that Brad Marchand is close to being medically cleared to return to the lineup.
He had previously said that the Panthers were going to give Marchand the entire month of October to rehab after August surgery. Marchand has been part of the past two practices.
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George Richards is the publisher of Florida Hockey Now and has been the beat writer covering the NHL Florida … More about George Richards, FHN Publisher