Aleksander Barkov Returns To Practice

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov appeared to be lost for the season when he tore both his ACL and MCL in his right knee on his first day of training camp. He’s been pushing for an early return, though, and has been doing light skating work on his own as part of his rehab since the end of December. That culminated in Barkov joining the team for a practice session, albeit in a non-contact jersey, for the first time this morning, the team’s Jameson Olive relays.

Florida and Barkov both hoped that if he did push the envelope for his return, it would be with the intent of captaining them to a third straight Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, a wide range of other impactful injuries completely derailed the Cats’ season. They’re not technically eliminated from playoff contention, but, with 19 games to go, are third-last in the East and sit 11 points back of a playoff spot. Their chances of making the playoffs are down to just 1.5%, per MoneyPuck, with a greater chance at winning the draft lottery for the first overall pick.

With that in mind, there’s little reason to work him into the lineup if he’s anything less than 100%. Outside of Sergei Bobrovsky, all of Florida’s core is signed long-term and still has a chance at multiple deep playoff runs with their group. Those long-term hopes will be dashed if Barkov sustains any additional damage or prevents his knee from fully healing, though.

Nonetheless, one of the most competitive individuals in the sport will bite at the chance to get back on the ice, even if it’s for a few ultimately meaningless games at the end of the schedule. It’s incredibly rare for a player of Barkov’s caliber to miss an entire season in his prime. Even the most notable examples this century, Peter Forsberg in 2001-02 and Nikita Kucherov in 2020-21, saw their clubs make the postseason without them and return to be their club’s top contributors on long playoff runs.

Hopefully, the fact that Barkov’s recovery has seemingly gone as smoothly as it has is a promising sign that he’ll hit the ground running in the fall for his age-31 season. He’s won back-to-back Selke Trophies and has passed the point-per-game threshold six times in the last seven seasons.