<\/p>\n
Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) skates on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.<\/p>\n
Jordan McPherson<\/p>\n
jmcpherson@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
The Florida Panthers held out hope they would get captain Aleksander Barkov back on the ice this season after a training camp injury forced him to get surgery on the ACL and MCL in his right knee.<\/p>\n
That hope, primarily, was that he would return for a potential Stanley Cup playoff run, a chase for a third consecutive championship.<\/p>\n
Those playoff hopes are gone, with the Panthers all but mathematically eliminated from postseason contention as injuries ravaged their roster and kept them on the outside looking in of the playoff picture all season.<\/p>\n
And while Barkov has been skating with the team for a good bit now, Panthers coach Paul Maurice shut down the notion that Barkov could potentially see the ice in any of Florida\u2019s final nine games before the regular season ends.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I don\u2019t think so,\u201d Maurice told reporters Sunday prior to the Panthers\u2019 3-1 road loss to the New York Rangers. \u201cNot in the situation. So they give you a two-month window [to return] on these knee injuries. He\u2019ll get inside that two-month window, but why would we? We\u2019ll take the whole two months before he plays a hockey game again becauase we just wouldn\u2019t want to … if it\u2019s six-to-eight [weeks] and we put him in at seven and something happens, that doesn\u2019t make much sense, so we\u2019ll have him go through the entire rehab process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barkov sustained the noncontact injury<\/a> within the first half hour of his first training camp practice on Sept. 25. He had surgery the next day<\/a>. The projected timeline of recovery at that time was seven to nine months. That pointed to a late-April return on the early end of the timeline. The Panthers\u2019 regular-season schedule ends April 15.<\/p>\n However, Barkov began doing individual on-ice drills in January and joined the team for practice sessions in a non-contact jersey in mid-March. Florida\u2019s captain, who holds the franchise\u2019s career records for games played (804), goals (286), assists (496) and points (782) among other categories, remained optimistic about his recovery.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really happy where I am right now,\u201d Barkov said in late February<\/a>. \u201cI know the schedule. I know that I\u2019m in good hands. We have great people working for the Panthers \u2014 surgeons and physical therapists and doctors. I trust them, and they will always make the right decision. And I know hopefully, very soon, I\u2019ll be back with the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Right now, it looks like that will be next season, with Florida potentially being eliminated from playoff contention as early as Tuesday.<\/p>\n The Panthers enter Monday with a 35-35-3 record for a total of 73 points in the standings with nine games left to play starting with their Tuesday home game against the Ottawa Senators (7 p.m., Scripps Sports). If Florida somehow ran the table to close the season, it would max out at 91 points. The Boston Bruins, currently in the Eastern Conference\u2019s top wild card spot, already have 92 points, so Florida\u2019s only path to the postseason would be as the second wild card.<\/p>\n The Columbus Blue Jackets currently occupy the Eastern Conference\u2019s final wild card spot with 88 points. The Senators, Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers are in a three-way tie just outside playoff positioning with 86 points. If any of those teams eclipse 91 points, then Florida will be officially eliminated from playoff contention. The point threshold drops with each point the Panthers fail to pick up.<\/p>\n Which leads to Tuesday.<\/p>\n A Panthers regulation loss to the Senators and a Columbus win in any fashion against the Carolina Hurricanes would formally eliminate the Panthers from the playoffs. The regulation loss would cap the Panthers\u2019 point potential at 89 points. The Columbus win would give the Blue Jackets 90 points.<\/p>\n This story was originally published March 29, 2026 at 2:17 PM.<\/p>\n