Barkov And Tkachuk's Injuries Have Caught Up With The Panthers

As the NHL’s reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers rightfully command a lot of respect. And in most, if not all, pre-season predictions, the Panthers were seen as locks to make the playoffs. 

However, the Panthers were devastated by the injury bug to start the season, as star forwards Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk suffered long-term injuries that have kept them out of action up to this point.

Although Florida has admirably tried to carry on without the services of two foundational players, the team is drifting further and further from a playoff spot.

Indeed, Florida has gone 3-4-1 in their past eight games, and on Friday, the Carolina Hurricanes steamrolled them by a whopping 9-1 score.

The Panthers are now in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a 24-19-3 record, only two points out of last place in the division. 

That’s about as worrying as it can get for Panthers fans. And it’s not as if Florida is in a position to make the most of a non-playoff year by landing a top draft pick, as they don't have their first-round pick this season.

Panthers GM Bill Zito has spent much of his trade capital in previous seasons, and at the moment, he has only $237,293 in salary cap space. So there’s no cavalry on the horizon.

Getting Tkachuk back in November or December would’ve given Florida a dynamic, physical presence that they’re clearly lacking, even with the presence of veteran Brad Marchand in the lineup. Also, Tkachuk could’ve contributed more offense to a Panthers roster that’s currently 20th in the league with an average of 3.00 goals per game.

Now, Tkachuk is expected back in action very soon, but it feels like it’s getting too late for Florida to climb out of the hole the Panthers have dug for themselves.

They’ve not only got to win many more games than they lose, but they also have to somehow leapfrog the three teams that currently sit in their way of a playoff position.

If the Panthers do fail to get into the post-season, they’d be the sixth team in NHL history to win a Cup one year, then miss out on the playoffs the following season. The most recent team to suffer that fate was the Los Angeles Kings in 2014-15, and Florida doesn’t want to be the next one to do so.

That said, a team can only do so much when two of its top players aren’t available to play. That’s where the Panthers have been this season.

The injury bug has put them in a position they can’t claw out of. The next 10 games of their upcoming schedule feature winnable games against the Winnipeg Jets (twice), Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. If Florida can’t make the most of those games, securing a playoff spot is going to be an even tougher task.

You can never completely count out any team until they’re officially eliminated from playoff competition, but Florida very much looks like a group that doesn’t have enough horses to get them across the finish line.

If the Panthers do miss out on post-season play, no one can say that they didn’t see it coming.

As soon as Barkov and Tkachuk were sidelined for a long period of time, the Panthers had their backs to the wall. And while the rest of Florida’s roster has tried their best to keep the team competitive in the absence of their two best forwards, the cold reality is it’s looking like it’s not going to be enough to extend their year after the end of the regular-season. 

Florida has been a powerhouse in recent years, but much of that power has been drained this season. The house Zito has built doesn’t look like it’s able to withstand the impact of losing Barkov and Tkachuk.

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