The Florida Panthers are only a couple of weeks away from two key reinforcements arriving.
Head coach Paul Maurice confirmed Tuesday that both of forwards Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand are set to return within two weeks.
Panthers captain Barkov suffered a knee injury midway through the second game of the season in Florida’s 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 1.
Barkov was jostling for the puck along the boards, got pushed by the Sharks’ Darnell Nurse and awkwardly fell to the ice with his left leg at an unnatural angle. It appeared his knee buckled on the play. The star centre avoided surgery and an initial timeline was set for six-to-eight weeks.
Barkov missed all of last season following knee surgery for an injury suffered in training camp.
Two games later, Marchand sustained a lower-body injury in the second period of Florida’s 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 6.
It was only the forward’s second game of the season as Marchand missed the entire pre-season and the first two regular-season games while recovering from off-season surgery to repair a sports hernia.
Marchand’s injury occurred when the 38-year-old collided with Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke while driving to the Kings’ net and Clarke’s stick came into contact with Marchand’s face. Marchand also collided with teammate Brady Tkachuk and crashed into the boards. Maurice confirmed that Marchand was expected to miss six weeks, putting him on a similar timetable to Barkov.
That timeline as held true.
Marchand recorded a goal in his two games this season after registering 27 goals and 54 points in 52 games last season.
Drafted 71st overall by the Boston Bruins in 2006, Marchand has 452 goals and 1,035 points in 1,153 career games split between the Bruins and Panthers.
Barkov has not yet registered a point this season, after recording 20 goals and 51 assists for 71 points during the 2024-25 season.