Bill Zito hasn’t talked to Aleksander Barkov since the Florida Panthers’ underwent surgery on Friday to repair the ACL and MCL in his right knee and will sideline him at minimum for between seven and nine months.
Zito, the Panthers’ president of hockey operations and general manager, did talk with Barkov before the operation.
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“I said ‘There’s not really a lot to say, other than very sorry,’” Zito told reporters Saturday.
Barkov’s response, according to Zito: “Thanks, buddy. How are you?”
“He has a pretty strong resolve,” Zito added, “Of course, he won’t show it all the time because of who he is, but he’s going to be OK.”
The Panthers will have to show a similar resolve as they play, at a minimum, the regular season without their captain as they attempt to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup.
“We feel horrible, horrible for Sasha,” Zito said. “Obviously, most of you know the impact that it will have on him and his love for the game and his love for the Panthers, but it’s something we have to get over. It’s a huge blow.”
Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) lifts the Stanley Cup with teammates after a 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla., clinching the NHL title.
Zito believes Florida has the roster to weather the loss, even with star winger Matthew Tkachuk and fourth-line center Tomas Nosek sidelined multiple months to begin the season as they recover from surgeries of their own.
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He also said there is no timeline on when — or if — they decide to declare Barkov’s injury season-ending, a move that determines how much of his $10 million cap hit they can use during the regular season. At a best-case scenario, the seven-month end of the recovery timeline would have Barkov available for the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The league this season is enacting several parts of the new collective bargaining agreement even those the full CBA doesn’t go into effect until the 2026-27 season. This includes workarounds with how teams utilize long-term injured reserve.
Up until this season, a player’s entire salary was taken off his team’s salary cap while on long-term injured reserve. Now, that number is capped at $3.8 million, regardless of the player’s actual cap hit, unless the team declares him medically out for the entire season, including the playoffs.
Florida Panthers General Manager, President of Hockey Operations Bill Zito lifts the Stanley Cup after defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the Final at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, clinching the NHL championship.
Florida as of Saturday is $4.5 million over the salary cap but will be cap compliant when it puts Tkachuk ($3.8 million of his $9.5 million salary hit recaptured) and Nosek ($775,000 cap hit) on LTIR. Their decision on Barkov will determine how much additional cap space they will have to work with — $3.8 million if they hold out hope he can take part in the Stanley Cup playoffs or $10 million if they declare his season over.
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A team’s roster does not have to be cap compliant for the playoffs, but the 20 skaters they use on any given night in the postseason has to be under the league’s $95.5 million salary cap.
“The timing of that will happen when it happens,” Zito said. “I don’t think it’s something that I could control. … That’s a fluid process.”
For now, the Panthers are working with the roster they have at training camp, although Zito could work to make external additions at any time.
That means experimenting with a new top line that has Sam Bennett centering Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart. The second line is a familiar one, with Anton Lundell centering Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand. For now, the bottom-six forwards are Evan Rodrigues centering Jesper Boqvist and Mackie Samoskevich and then Luke Kunin centering A.J. Greer and Jonah Gadjovich.
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“In my world,” Zito said, “I envision a spectrum of any and all possibilities. Maybe I could play, right? That’s not going to happen. You’re right after me. So somewhere between the absurd and the ridiculous and the probable, there’s a spectrum of possibilities that we have to consider. I told our guys it’s no different, actually, than what we do every day. From a roster and personnel availability standpoint, what do we need to get better? What could help us now? What could help us in the long run? What considerations do we need to entertain in order to just keep being aware and keep getting better. That process is already in place. You can’t replace Sasha Barkov, but what options might be available? The decision might be option A, option Q, option H, and maybe we watch and take some time if there’s no real answer. It’s a fluid exercise, but the consideration of anything and everything is in play.”