Hunter Skoczylas breaks down the odds movement for the Florida Panthers across multiple markets following the news of the Aleksander Barkov injury.
The Florida Panthers are in danger of missing their captain, Aleksander Barkov, for the entire 2025-26 season due to a knee injury that he sustained in Thursday’s practice. Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters on Friday morning that Barkov will have surgery on his knee to repair the injury. The 30-year-old forward led the team in assists (51) and ranked second in points (71) last season for Florida.
Going to know more in the next 24-48 hours, but Panthers are bracing for the possibility their captain, Aleksander Barkov, could be lost for the season.
Would be brutal, no one wants to see that…but, unfortunately, was a bad injury.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 26, 2025
This is the second significant blow for Florida as the team was already preparing to start the season without Matthew Tkachuk, who is still recovering from multiple offseason surgeries and is expected to be sidelined until at least December. For a team that is just one of ten franchises to win back-to-back Stanley Cups in NHL history and looking to three-peat, this news is not ideal as the new season begins in a week.
Panthers’ Odds Shift on DraftKings Sportsbook
Following the news of Barkov’s injury and possible timetable, odds on DraftKings Sportsbook have begun to shift for the Panthers. Florida was the +600 favorite to win the Stanley Cup but has since dropped to +1100, the seventh-shortest odds to win it all. Over 28% of the handle and 36% of the bets on DraftKings Sportsbook had been placed on Florida to complete the three-peat.
As for the Eastern Conference, it opened at +320 and was +310 prior to the injury news. Now, the Panthers hold the third-shortest odds (+550) to win the conference, falling behind both the Hurricanes (+380) and Lightning (+400). Considering their division projects to be one of the more competitive divisions in the league, the Panthers also dropped to the third-shortest odds to win the Atlantic Division, trailing the Lightning (+180) and Maple Leafs (+290).
Florida’s regular season team point total also dropped from O/U 105.5 points to O/U 99.5 points, which is tied for the second-highest total among its division foes. A whopping 95% of the bets on DraftKings Sportsbook were placed on the Panthers finishing under 105.5 points to begin with, so those early tickets will be rewarded with a discount entering the new season. The Panthers are still deep enough to withstand a season-long absence of Barkov, however, as their odds to make the playoffs still sit at -320 following the news (-1400 prior).