Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has been placed on long-term injured reserve, meaning the injury to his left leg will keep him sidelined for at least the next 10 games and quite possibly beyond.
The Panthers have not revealed any details of Barkov's injury.
Sources told ESPN's Emily Kaplan that the Panthers are optimistic that Barkov's injury is not season-ending. Barkov will continue to be evaluated after he underwent an MRI this weekend that did not reveal the worst-case scenario, sources said.
Barkov was hurt midway through the second period of Florida's 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. He 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.
He remained down for a few moments then got up and headed toward the tunnel leading to the Florida dressing room. He walked with a bit of a limp and appeared to angrily try to throw off his gloves as he moved toward the room.
Barkov -- Florida's captain and a huge part of the Panthers' runs to Stanley Cup championships in 2024 and 2025 -- missed the entire 2025-26 season with torn ligaments in his right knee. He went scoreless in Florida's first two games of this season.
The Panthers next play Sunday at the Anaheim Ducks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
