{"id":398493,"date":"2026-01-08T23:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T23:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/398493\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T23:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T23:41:15","slug":"is-florida-panthers-captain-aleksander-barkov-likely-to-return-this-season-after-knee-surgery-nhl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/398493\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov likely to return this season after knee surgery? | NHL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IsAleksander Barkov has resumed skating recently after suffering a torn ACL and MCL in training camp (Image Via Getty Images) Aleksander Barkov’s chances of returning to the Florida Panthers lineup this season are growing, offering a timely boost to the team’s strength as they continue to chase the Stanley Cup. Meanwhile, TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston, on Tuesday morning, revealed that Barkov\u2019s chances of being back with Florida this year are \u201cpretty high\u201d.Earlier, the team announced that the captain would remain away from the team for the entire 2025-26 season, after sustaining a non-contact right knee injury on Sept. 25, 2025. Reports suggest that captain Aleksander Barkov has resumed skating recently after suffering a torn ACL and MCL in training camp. Besides, he was also seen taking to the ice before Florida\u2019s loss to the New York Rangers in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2 from Miami\u2019s loanDepot Park. It is important to note that Florida has been playing without Barkov and forward Matthew Tkachuk, who is recovering from surgery for a torn adductor and sports hernia. Still, it’s commendable that the team’s collective effort has scored a 22-17-3 record and sits just two points away from the playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

NHL Insider hints at Aleksander Barkov\u2019s return to Florida Panthers this season after ACL injury<\/p>\n

The Florida Panthers could get a major boost as their captain, Aleksander Barkov, is reportedly planning to rejoin<\/a> the team after recovering from a knee injury, followed by a surgery, recently. With this return, the Panthers could begin defense of their back-to-back Stanley Cup titles without captain Aleksander Barkov and alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk.Barkov underwent surgery to repair ACL and MCL injuries suffered on the opening day of camp, sidelining him for seven to nine months, following knee surgery in September. This questioned his ability to suit up for Florida over the course of the 2025-26 season.Meanwhile, NHL Insider Chris Johnston stated, \u201cI think we\u2019re going to see him play for the Panthers before they\u2019ve played their last game this season, but it might still not come until playoff time.\u201d Johnston further said, \u201cHe\u2019s started to skate a little bit, but if you\u2019ve seen it, it\u2019s in a tracksuit. He\u2019s still got quite a bit to go, but also, we\u2019re only at the beginning of January.Speaking about his return around April and May, he added, \u201cThe absolute best-case scenario is he\u2019s coming back at some point, late April, early May, whatever that is. If you\u2019re the Panthers, you\u2019re rooting for [that], but you\u2019re not counting on them being back.\u201dAs per reports, Barkov has recorded 20 goals and 51 assists for 71 points last season, winning both the Selke and King Clancy Trophy. He also added 22 points during the playoffs en route to helping Florida win their second Stanley Cup title in as many years. While Barkov\u2019s return to the ice is surely a positive sign for the Panthers, a return to the lineup is not imminent.Also read: Winnipeg Jets Haydn Fleury discharged from hospital after suffering major upper-body injury | NHL News – The Times of India<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aleksander Barkov has resumed skating recently after suffering a torn ACL and MCL in training camp (Image Via…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5102],"tags":[50557,50559,50560,62,57,50558,12762,5141,5,19241,4,21299,63],"class_list":["post-398493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida-panthers","tag-aleksander-barkov-return-news","tag-barkov-knee-surgery-recovery","tag-barkov-skating-recovery","tag-florida","tag-florida-panthers","tag-florida-panthers-captain-injury-update","tag-florida-panthers-news","tag-floridapanthers","tag-hockey","tag-matthew-tkachuk-injury-update","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-injury-report","tag-panthers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115862128911334749","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}