Aleksander Barkov’s return gives the Florida Panthers a jolt heading into training camp, and the captain says the hardest part of the comeback is already behind him.
That moment came in May, in a mostly empty Swedish arena, when Barkov lined up for Finland in an exhibition against Switzerland and played his first game since tearing up his right knee in the Panthers’ first training camp practice 7 1/2 months earlier. Early in the game, he went down on one of his first shifts. What happened next told him everything he needed to know.
Nothing bad happened.
“Very good news,” Barkov said.
For Barkov, that was the confirmation he needed that the surgically repaired knee was sound and that he could play without worrying about it. A few weeks later, he was lifting the trophy after Finland won the IIHF world championship.
Now he’s back in Florida, ready for camp and ready to lead a Panthers team that enters the season with plenty of buzz despite missing the playoffs last year. Most sportsbooks have Florida as the favorite to win its third Stanley Cup in a four-year stretch.
“Don't take anything for granted,” Barkov said, when asked what he learned from not being able to play for Florida last season. “You just have to enjoy every single chance you get to play hockey, to be with your teammates, to go to every single practice, every single game. You’ve got to be excited about that.”
The Panthers held media day Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s first practice, and the roster has the look of a team built to chase another title. A big chunk of the core from the 2024 and 2025 Cup runs is back: Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell, Dmitry Kulikov and Niko Mikkola.
Florida also added Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk’s brother, and brought back Radko Gudas, a familiar face from his first Panthers stint, to help the blue line. In goal, with Sergei Bobrovsky gone to Toronto, Jacob Markstrom is taking over the net.
Barkov said the new and returning pieces have already brought the right mindset.
“Every single guy who has come in, they look so determined to be their best and to show their best," Barkov said. “But they also know that we’re all in this together.
Every single person is important, and every single has their own abilities to lead in their own way. We have many of those guys, so that’s the best part of this.
No one’s here by themselves. Everyone can be just whatever they are.”
Last season never got off the ground for Barkov or for Florida. His injury came about 20 minutes into the first practice of training camp on Sept. 25, 2025, when he tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee. He had surgery the next day and was skating within a few months, but by the time a return to game action became realistic, the Panthers - battered by injuries all year - were out of playoff contention and no longer in position to chase a third straight Stanley Cup.
There was still something to salvage for Barkov. He missed the chance to captain Finland at the Milan Cortina Olympics, but he did suit up for his country at the IIHF world championships this spring and helped finish the job with a 1-0 win over host Switzerland in the gold medal game.
Now Florida’s career leader in goals and assists is back where the Panthers want him: on the ice, in camp, and ready for the grind ahead.
“We all know camp is always going to be hard, no matter what. It's going to be hard physically and mentally," Barkov said. "We're all kind of ready for that test.”
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