Florida Panthers Coach Paul Maurice Talks About Sasha Barkov Injury, Surgery, Moving Forward

Florida Panthers Coach Paul Maurice Talks About Sasha Barkov Injury, Surgery, Moving Forward

All right. Yeah, Barky’s in surgery right now and um when he comes out and we get the final information on um on how the surgery went and we’ll get you all the information that we have. Pretty detailed. We’ll be real transparent with it. Um and that’ll hopefully happen later today for you. Is this a knee injury? It’s a knee. Yeah. Okay. Do you know the what the what the extent of it is? No, I don’t I don’t know what the extent is. That’s the surgery will tell us an awful lot. Just how tough is obviously the captain? Yeah, I mean there’s there’s no hiding it. That’s a that’s a hole. That’s the big man, right? So, he has such an important place in that locker room. I think what we’re going to get to experience now is you’ll get to know some of the other leaders that we have in our room and we’ll get to see other players. I mean, at the end of the day, I know there’s the idea next man up. I get all that, but you there’s not a next man for for Barky skates. So, we just got to share it. It’s got to it’s right across the room in the coaches and uh we all we’ll pick it up a little piece, you know, try to try to can’t fill the skates, but uh we can certainly put a good man in that position. Looking at today’s lines, do you anticipate starting with with Rodriguez? Yeah, the idea is today is what don’t I know? Um is what I’m looking at. So I know what Reinhardt Lundal and Lorine look long term. They played an entire year together. We have Loran and Lundell and Marshon played a playoff series. So we we know that they have not seen Verhagi Bennett and Reinhardt play together. So we do want to get a bit of a feel for it. And then I like I like that idea of Rodriguez, Boquist, and Samavich. There’s no kid on that line anymore, right? And they uh they each line then looks different. So, we’ll look at that, but none of it’s going to stay. You know how that works. And it won’t be because of a failure to it. Just the natural progression at some point. Reinhardt’s playing with Lundell. Um Marott’s going to play with Bennett at some point and then it may be playing with Rodriguez at some point. So we we we’re pretty that part at least we’re consistent that we’re fairly inconsistent with uh unless we really like it. But I this is kind of the advantage if there is one of of all of the injuries that you face during the year. You get a chance to find new things that may work. Did you did you tell the team about Oh yeah. Like there’s no hiding that one. Right. Right. They uh they they knew you could see it. There’s about a 10-minute lull in that practice yesterday. Then they got back to work. Um, they got after it pretty good today. Like I’m so kind of proud of the fact that our practices are so hard. I’m not sure it’s the exact same practice, the exact same number of rotations, and I’m not sure it’s hard for them right now. I mean, they get through that hard and and they’re not hurt, which is awesome, but going to have to come up with a tougher practice next year. Is it is it just I don’t know. It seemed like a non just one of those things. Does that make it, you know, a game where somebody’s battling and gets hurt? Just one of those things that happen. That’s that’s why you can’t bubble wrap guys like the idea that you keep them out of games and you save them at times. It can happen in practice. It can happen anywhere. You know what you you are looking for silver linings. Um, last year I thought was such a mental grind the entire year and then Barky broke his finger in the Ranger game. The second last game of the year he broke his finger. So when we left the rink that night, uh, you Dave Dapoli says, “Well, he’s going to get it checked out, but there’s a chance it needs a pin in it.” That’s six weeks. That was a kick in the teeth because to to put up with what that team went through the entire year and to lose it on, nobody saw it. He didn’t know it happened. It just started to swell up in his glove in the third period. That at least this one there’s an emotional shock. There just is. When you lose, you know, with Matthew, we’ve had time to kind of process it. We understand. And then this happens. There’s uh you want to happen, might as well happen early so we can deal with it and learn a bunch more about the players we have. Are you going into this into it that is not against Chicago? Let’s just start there and then addy’s going to give you all the information you need later today. Your center just feel like your group is at the up the middle. I got two guys playing the wings right now that I know for a fact can play the center ice in the NHL very well. So Sam Reinhardt has came into the league as that day and played here as a center iceman. So we got lots of coverage there. Would you put He did that in Buffalo. Yeah, it’s it’s a it’s a kind of a cost benefit on that. I know he can do it. I think I’ve got other guys that can be really good and I know he’s outstanding on the wing. So, it I I think you’re going to all everything’s possible, George, but it wouldn’t be the first place that I looked, but he can do it. I know what mean he can play defense if he needs to. Yeah, right. No, I mean No, it’s just not. It’s just not. And we know for it for a fact. His numbers were off the charts. He felt great. It’s 20 minutes into the first practice and we hadn’t even gotten to anything heavy yet. He’s not breathing hard at that point. It’s a fluke play, right? None of these, you know, no six injury. Um, they’re not overuse injuries. They’re just fluke things that happen in pro sports. Well, don’t walk around. Get you got to get You get one day. You get one day to be sad. Then tomorrow I want every one of you happy. All right. What was the last like for you to be

Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice meets the media after training camp practice in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

Florida captain Aleksander Sasha Barkov was injured in the first full on-ice practice of training camp on Thursday; Maurice said Friday that Barkov was undergoing surgery on his right knee.

The Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final on June 17; it was the second straight year the Panthers beat the Oilers for the Cup.

The Panthers Have Done It Again, Repeat as Cup Champs: https://floridahockeynow.com/florida-panthers-repeat-stanley-cup-champions-2025/

How Brad Marchand Joined the Florida Panthers: https://floridahockeynow.com/brad-marchand-joins-florida-panthers-how-it-happened-nhl-trade-bruins/

2024 Stanley Cup Champions Honored at the White House: https://floridahockeynow.com/stanley-cup-champion-florida-panthers-honored-at-white-house/

Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning Bringing Hockey Outdoors – In Florida: https://floridahockeynow.com/nhl-outdoor-hockey-miami-tampa-florida-panthers-lightning/

The Florida Panthers Get Their Rings. They’re Spectacular: https://floridahockeynow.com/florida-panthers-get-stanley-cup-championship-rings-theyre-spectacular/

The Florida Panthers Are Stanley Cup Champions: https://floridahockeynow.com/can-you-believe-it-florida-panthers-are-stanley-cup-champs/

In Game 6, the Panthers led 2-0 in the first off goals from Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk.

Reinhart made it 3-0 with his second of the game before he got his hat trick — and then a fourth goal.

Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

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Video Courtesy Florida Panthers / Panther Vision