It’s deja vu all over again for the Florida Panthers.
They spent all of last season playing without their leader, the superstar center Aleksander Barkov, who missed the year with a right knee injury.
It was a big reason why they went from back-to-back Stanley Cup champs to missing the playoffs entirely. Florida had other injuries, too, but Barkov was as tough as any.
That’s part of what made Thursday night in San Jose even worse. Barkov went down with what looked to be a left knee injury this time. Panthers fans, and fans of hockey in general, immediately feared the worst — because Barkov’s reaction suggested this wasn’t just some minor tweak.
When sports fans watch injuries like this, it’s sometimes hard to know exactly how they’re feeling.
One guy who might know more is 12-year NHL goalie Carter Hutton, who is now retired but does podcast shows as part of the Daily Faceoff website. Hutton got a chance to speak about Barkov’s injury on their latest show.
Carter Hutton on Aleksander Barkov
The first thing Hutton had to say about Barkov was simply about how the league views the highly respected center.
“Barkov is just internationally loved,” Hutton said. “I don’t think there’s many people that don’t like the way he plays the game and the way he carries himself and his leadership. Granted, I know Florida draws a lot of attention with the Tkachuk brothers and Marchand and the way they play, but Barkov is loved.”
That universal appreciation makes the injury even more painful to those involved.
“You see what he went through to get back into this,” Hutton said. “His reaction to me as a player who’s been around the game long enough to know that something went wrong. I’ve been in that situation where you get a tweak or something happens and you’re like, ‘That’s okay, it’s going to go away.’ But when you are hurt, you played this game long enough, something definitely happened there. I just hope and pray for him that it’s just short-term here and we can see him back on the ice soon.”
Hutton then shared what it’s like to go through an injury, or to have a teammate injured.
“This is something I’ve dealt with so many times with teams, with myself, with staff,” Hutton said. “You start losing man games and then all of a sudden it’s really hard to make it up. And there are replaceable pieces on teams. You lose a top-six guy, you lose a bottom-pair defenseman, but you have the American Hockey League guys or extra players ready to fill in. But again, just like we saw last year, Barkov is one of those irreplaceable players in your lineup. He sets the tone. He plays the tough minutes against the best players. So hopefully this isn’t long-term, just from the human side of it. I just can’t imagine what he’s going through today as he gets ready for his MRI.”
It’s a really fascinating perspective from a guy who was actually in locker rooms and knows what moments like these feel like.
Panthers Mixed Bag Start
The Panthers started the season in fine fashion — on Tuesday, they defeated the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes in overtime, 1-0.
But then Thursday came. Not only did they lose Barkov to injury. They lost the game in OT to the San Jose Sharks.
At this point, the Panthers’ season feels like it’s going to get either a positive or negative nudge from the Barkov injury diagnosis.
They’re already without Brad Marchand, probably until November, and a Barkov longer-term absence would really slow down any early-season groove.
Given what Barkov means to the Panthers, and to the league, this has the potential to be extra painful.
Aleksander Barkov Injury Pain Empathized by Ex-NHL Goalie