Panthers star Aleksander Barkov out with illness, leaving Florida down a player vs. Stars
.JPG "Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) passes the puck during the third period of an NHL game against the Washington Capitals at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.")
Aleksander Barkov was out of the lineup for the Florida Panthers on Thursday due to an illness.
The illness is not COVID-19, the Panthers announced shortly before the start of their game against the Dallas Stars in Sunrise.
With their star center out, the Panthers were forced to play down a man, due to their cap situation. Florida currently doesn’t have the cap space to carry any extra players beyond the 20 skaters and two goaltenders required. The NHL does allow teams to make emergency call-ups when they have fewer healthy players than the league minimum and the lack of an additional player suggests Barkov’s absence is a relatively late development.
The 27-year-old Finn has 14 points this season and scored his first 5-on-5 goal Tuesday, helping the Panthers beat the Washington Capitals in a rematch of their first-round series from the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. This is the first game he has missed this season after he missed 15 last year with a knee injury.
Center Eric Staal, a six-time All-Star, took Barkov’s place on the top line, in between left wing Carter Verhaeghe and All-Star right wing Matthew Tkachuk.
Florida signed Staal, 38, to a one-year, $750,000 deal last month and the former superstar had yet to score a point in his first nine games. The Panthers bumped the Canadian forward up from their fourth line.
Barkov’s absence always forces Florida into major changes because of how many different jobs he does. Barkov leads all Panthers forwards in average time on ice, playing more than a 90 seconds per game more than anyone else, as an important piece of both Florida’s power-play and penalty-kill units.
Barkov is coming off arguably the best season yet — his 39 goals during the 2021-22 NHL season were a new career high — and has four goals and 10 assists in 16 games.
This story was originally published November 17, 2022 at 6:59 PM.
