SUNRISE — Aleksander Barkov will return to the ice Sunday night for the first time since Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final when the Florida Panthers open their four-game preseason schedule against the Carolina Hurricanes at Amerant Bank Arena at 7 p.m. ET, the team announced.
Barkov, who missed all of last season with an injury, will center a line alongside Sam Reinhart and major offseason addition Brady Tkachuk. Head coach Paul Maurice offered a characteristically understated take on managing his superstar captain’s return. “I don’t really coach Barky, I just kind of cheer,” Maurice said. “What is important is that he’s got a new left winger. As Sam Reinhart will tell you, he’s got two new linemates. It’s important that he gets in, but he’s got a World Championship under his belt.”
The game also marks the first time Matthew and Brady Tkachuk will play together as NHL teammates. Brady, acquired in a blockbuster trade in June after eight seasons with the Ottawa Senators, produced 59 points — 22 goals and 37 assists — in 60 games with Ottawa last season. The brothers become the sixth pair to play for the Panthers franchise.
Goaltender Jacob Markstrom will also make his first appearance in a Panthers sweater in Sunrise since he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks during the 2013-14 season. Since the 2019-20 season, Markstrom ranks among the NHL’s top five goaltenders in games played (tied fourth, 349), time on ice (fourth, 20,424:38) and shutouts (tied fifth, 22).
On the blue line, defensemen Dmitry Kulikov and Radko Gudas bring more than 2,000 combined games of NHL experience to a new pairing. Gudas, who previously played for Florida from 2020 through 2023, rejoined the Panthers this summer as a free agent on a six-year deal. His 917 hits rank third in franchise history; Kulikov leads the franchise with 1,016. “Playing with him the first three practices, it seems like chemistry is right away there,” Kulikov said of Gudas. “Us, being more experienced players, we’re able to read off each other a lot better. He’s a really easy guy to play with.”
Maurice said he plans to keep the preseason opener low-key. “I understand that these guys do need to touch the puck a little bit,” he said. “They’re going to start working on some of that chemistry. I probably won’t yell at anybody. I’ll just talk to people.”
Rookie Jack Devine, who registered 43 points — 18 goals and 25 assists — in 63 AHL games last season, is also in the lineup and said the moment carries weight. “It’s super special, especially representing the Panthers,” Devine said. “You obviously want to win every night.”
Carolina is keeping most of its top players home for the road trip. The most experienced Hurricanes skaters expected to dress are Jesperi Kotkaniemi (518 career games) and Mike Reilly (460 career games). Six Carolina skaters — Charlie Cerrato, Filip Ekberg, Noel Fransen, Zachary Lansard, Viktor Neuchev and Juuso Valimaki — will play in their first-ever NHL exhibition with the Hurricanes. Pyotr Kochetkov, who has appeared in 125 NHL games, and Zach Sawchenko, who has seven games of NHL experience, will share goaltending duties for Carolina.
Florida went 8-5 on a combined-score basis in two preseason matchups against Carolina last season and has eliminated the Hurricanes from the playoffs in two of the past four postseasons. Sunday’s game can be streamed free at PanthersPlus.tv for fans within the Panthers’ broadcast territory. A combined 50/50 raffle covering both of Florida’s preseason games will be drawn Sept. 26.