ANAHEIM, Calif. - Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov sustained an apparent left leg injury Thursday night and is scheduled for an MRI in southern California, leaving the defending-champion franchise to navigate a roster crunch with virtually no salary cap room to spare, Florida Hockey Now reported.
The Panthers are pressed against the NHL’s $104 million salary cap and are carrying only 21 players rather than the 23-man maximum, giving head coach Paul Maurice almost no margin to maneuver. The team’s only spare player is defenseman Uvis Balinskis, who was pressed into action Thursday after Gus Forsling was a late scratch.
If Barkov’s injury requires an extended absence of roughly a month to six weeks, the Panthers could place him on long-term injured reserve and recover approximately $4 million of his cap hit - enough to call up reinforcements, likely a center, from AHL Charlotte. To qualify for LTIR without a season-ending designation, a player must miss at least 10 games and 24 days; a season-ending designation would bar the player from returning even in the playoffs, though the team would recover all cap space.
The team could also designate Brad Marchand for LTIR to create additional cap flexibility. Maurice said Wednesday that Marchand appeared ahead of schedule in his recovery, though the coach had previously stated before training camp that Marchand would miss the entire month of October regardless. Marchand’s return timeline had been pegged around Nov. 1.
With Barkov sidelined, Maurice has several lineup options, according to Florida Hockey Now. Either Anton Lundell or Sam Bennett could slide into Barkov’s spot between Sam Reinhart and Brady Tkachuk. Veteran Lars Eller saw time at center Thursday after Barkov left the game. Maurice could also reunite the Tkachuk brothers with Bennett at center, while Lundell - who has had success alongside Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe - slots into a complementary role. If the team makes a cap-saving move and recalls Cole Reinhardt or Cole Schwindt from Charlotte, either could fill a center role on the third or fourth line.
Balinskis, who grew up playing forward before switching to defense as a teenager, is another short-term option Maurice has deployed as a fourth-line forward in the past.
The Panthers face the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday at 8 p.m. at Honda Center in Anaheim, where Florida holds a 23-17-2 all-time regular season series lead with three ties. Anaheim defeated Florida 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 28 earlier this season. The Panthers’ next game after Anaheim is Tuesday at the Los Angeles Kings at 10 p.m. on ESPN, with Barkov’s MRI results expected to clarify the team’s roster strategy before then.