The Florida Panthers dealt with some injuries last season that forced them to miss another title run, and the hope was that they could come back and restore the feeling. So far, they've dealt with a few injuries already, with one of them being to Aleksander Barkov at the beginning of October.
Barkov suffered a left knee injury during the Panthers' 4-3 overtime loss against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 1. The good news is that he was able to skate for the first time since the injury on Wednesday, and he is expected to be back in a few weeks, according to head coach Paul Maurice.
“We are happy with where they are at,” Maurice said via George Richards of NHL.com. “Once they hit the ice they will travel with us exclusively. They are here every day. They have an injury skate and then, at some point, they will move into the main group.”
Brad Marchand is the other player who's been injured for the Panthers after he fell into the goalpost against the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 6. He is also expected to return in a few weeks, but it looks like he could be back before Barkov.
Both Barkov and Marchand had just returned to the ice after missing time due to prior injuries, and it's obvious when they're not playing.
Article Continues Below“Those are two massive pieces to this team,” Sam Bennett said. “Obviously we feel it when they are not in the lineup. Just hoping they can get back in the lineup sooner rather than later.”
Hopefully, both players can come back sooner rather than later to give the Panthers a much-needed boost.