{"id":497056,"date":"2026-03-10T20:06:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/497056\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T20:06:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:06:20","slug":"panthers-aleksander-barkov-injury-update-emerges-on-tuesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/497056\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov Injury Update Emerges on Tuesday"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Florida Panthers<\/a> have spent the entire 2025-26 season without captain Aleksander Barkov after he tore both his ACL and MCL in his right knee on the first day of training camp.<\/p>\n

The injury required surgery<\/a> in late September and initially raised fears that Barkov could miss the full campaign. Barkov has been skating<\/a> on his own since January while gradually increasing his workload.<\/p>\n

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Panthers head coach Paul Maurice addressed<\/a> Barkov’s situation on Feb. 26, revealing that the captain would rejoin practice in a limited capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, in the next few weeks, Barky will join our group in a non-contact,\u201d Maurice said.<\/p>\n

General manager Bill Zito called for patience<\/a> on Feb. 24 when talking about Barkov’s comeback.<\/p>\n

\"Florida<\/p>\n

Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) warms up before the game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose.Robert Edwards-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

(Robert Edwards-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI would welcome him back to the Florida lineup the sooner the better as far as I am concerned,\u201d Zito said. \u201cBut the medical diagnosis is pretty clear timing-wise. It\u2019s one of those where it [may] look great, but you can\u2019t cheat the system on that one. \u2026 When the doctors say he\u2019s ready to play, he will be ready to play; I know that. Then he will play.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Florida sits 11 points out<\/a> of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 19 games remaining, making long-term health the priority for the two-time Selke Trophy winner instead of rushing a comeback that might go for nothing.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday morning, Panthers reporter Jameson Olive shared<\/a> a significant update from the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cBarkov on the ice prior to practice in a yellow no-contact jersey. We\u2019ll see if he sticks around to skate with the rest of the guys,\u201d Olive reported on X.<\/p>\n

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Shortly after, Olive confirmed: \u201cLooks like he\u2019s sticking around \ud83d\udc4d\u201d<\/p>\n

This development marks the first time Barkov has taken part in a full-team skate, albeit still in a non-contact jersey, since the injury. Barkov, meanwhile, has emphasized<\/a> trust in the process since undergoing surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really happy where I am right now. I know the schedule,\u201d Barkov said. \u201cI\u2019m in good hands. We have great people working for the Panthers: surgeons, physical therapists and doctors. So, I trust them, and they will always make the right decision. Hopefully, very soon, I\u2019ll be back with the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Florida hosts the Detroit Red Wings<\/a> on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

Related: Elliotte Friedman Shares Update on Auston Matthews and Maple Leafs<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Alex Ovechkin Reveals Key Factor in Retirement Decision<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Mar 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the NHL<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Florida Panthers have spent the entire 2025-26 season without captain Aleksander Barkov after he tore both his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5102],"tags":[91,93,62,57,5141,5,4,63,804,168],"class_list":{"0":"post-497056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida-panthers","8":"tag-aleksander-barkov","9":"tag-detroit-red-wings","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-florida-panthers","12":"tag-floridapanthers","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-panthers","16":"tag-paul-maurice","17":"tag-san-jose-sharks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116206685195786624","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497056","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=497056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}