Coming into the 2025-26 regular season as back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers were always going to be hard-pressed to win three consecutive Cups – and their chances to three-peat took a devastating blow with reports that star center and Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov could miss the entire season after essentially blowing out his right knee.

The 30-year-old was pegged to once again be a cornerstone component, not just for the Panthers, but for Team Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

But if a Sportsnet report is accurate regarding Barkov’s health status, all those plans are out the window.

In the hyper-competitive Atlantic Division, the Panthers will now presumably be without Barkov for the entire regular season, as well as star left winger Matthew Tkachuk until December at the earliest. It’s a shame how it’s happened, but the injuries to the Panthers' veterans blow the Atlantic wide open. 

We’re not suggesting Florida will plummet to the bottom of the division; they’ve got too much talent to allow that to take place. But with Atlantic rivals in Tampa Bay and Toronto more or less at full strength, the Panthers will have a difficult time attempting to win the Atlantic.

Indeed, without Barkov and Tkachuk, not only will Florida probably fall out of the top two spots in the division, but they may also be in tough just to get into the playoffs. 

But there could be help on the horizon for the Panthers, in the form of the salary cap relief they’ll generate with Barkov and Tkachuk out of action. Barkov’s entire $10-million cap hit can be used by Florida GM Bill Zito to acquire proven talent to keep the Panthers in the playoff picture. And part of Tkachuk’s $9.5-million cap hit will also go into Zito’s wallet to use to triage whatever problems Florida has once they settle into the season. 

But let’s not forget, the 2025-26 season is essentially an experiment in the salary cap being implemented in the playoffs for the first time in league history. That means that, if the Panthers acquire highly-paid talent to help in Barkov’s absence, they’ve got to be cap-compliant by the time the post-season rolls around. That's a change from the past, when Florida or any team was free to exceed the cap ceiling in the post-season.

So, this year, teams may have to sit out players of consequence in the playoffs, or we'll see players conveniently injured in the days just before the post-season begins. But the bottom line is that the Panthers in the regular season could look notably different than the Panthers in the playoffs. The implementation of the cap in the playoffs will force GMs like Zito to make difficult roster choices, but they will now have no choice but to abide by the cap ceiling.

For now, though, the mood amongst Panthers players and coaches has to be grim. Being without arguably their best skater in Barkov and their best agitator in Tkachuk robs Florida of two terrific weapons. And while Zito will shake the trees among other teams to see if he can acquire veteran talent to fill in for Tkachuk and Barkov, the reality is that there aren’t players of elite caliber waiting to be plucked away by the Panthers.

The finality of the injury is clear – Barkov is undergoing surgery for the injury on Friday, ensuring he’ll be lost until further notice. And everyone in Panthers camp knows how difficult it’s going to be without him.

“I know the idea is ‘next man up,” Maurice told the Associated Press Friday in the wake of Barkov’s injury. “There isn't a next man to fill (Barkov’s) skates.”

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