Panthers 'Internally Concerned' That Aleksander Barkov Will Miss Significant Time With Possible ACL Injury

The Florida Panthers have won back-to-back Stanley Cups coming into the 2025/26 season, and with such a deep, superstar laden team, there's optimism that they can three-peat this year.

Before the season begins, Matthew Tkachuk has been ruled out for the first few months, and now, they may be dealing with another injury, as captain Aleksander Barkov was helped off the ice at a recent practice.

Unfortunately, it appeared to be a very painful injury, and now, according to reporter Cam Robinson, there are fears within the organization that this injury could be related to his ACL.

That doesn't mean a full tear is the likely outcome, but if those fears are genuine, it doesn't bode well for the captain, who has once again been the driving force behind the Panthers success in recent times.

When asked about the injury, Head Coach Paul Maurice noted that Barkov will be getting a second look at it today, meaning that in the next 24 hours, we will likely have a much clearer picture of the injury and the potential recovery time for the superstar captain.

For now though, Panthers fans will be holding their breath with hopes that Barkov can avoid a major injury, and while they've got the talent to overcome an injury, given how important he is on both ends of the ice and the locker room, the hope is that this is a very minor injury and not what it's initially feared as.