IRVINE, Calif. - Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov will return to Florida to be evaluated by team physicians after sustaining a left knee injury Thursday night in San Jose, with the club placing him on long-term injured reserve and ruling him out for at least 10 games and 24 days, coach Paul Maurice said Saturday.
The earliest Barkov could return is Oct. 27 against the Winnipeg Jets. Maurice said the evaluation is set for Monday, and the team is deferring to medical staff on the severity of the injury, which Barkov appeared to sustain while battling for a puck in the corner during the second period of Florida’s game at San Jose.
“Barky’s going to see our doctors on Monday,” Maurice said after Saturday’s practice in Irvine, Calif. “We put him on LTIR knowing it was going to be 10 [games] anyway. We’ll see what they say on Monday. … I’m not the doctor here, so whatever they say.”
The injury drew immediate comparisons to the reconstructive surgery Barkov underwent on his right knee that cost him all of last season - but Maurice indicated this situation appears less severe. “We had a good practice,” Maurice said. “Barky is here. He’s moving around. We made fun of him for taking so much time off.”
To cover the roster hole, the Panthers recalled Sam Lafferty from AHL Charlotte on Saturday. Lafferty, 31, brings 378 NHL games of experience with Pittsburgh, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver and Buffalo, and signed with Florida as a free agent this summer. Maurice said Lafferty will likely center the fourth line. Lars Eller was moved up to the top line alongside Brady Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart following Barkov’s injury, and Maurice kept that trio together at Saturday’s practice, Florida Hockey Now reported.
The Panthers are also monitoring defenseman Gus Forsling, who left Saturday’s workout after roughly 10 minutes and did not play Thursday. The team recalled Alexander Petrovic from Charlotte as a precaution. “Game-time,” Maurice said of Forsling. “Feels pretty good, we just wanted to give him another day without banging on him.”
On a more positive note, Maurice said Brad Marchand is close to being medically cleared after August surgery. Marchand, who Maurice had previously said would be given all of October to rehab, has participated in the past two practices.
Florida faces the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday at 8 p.m. at Honda Center, where the Ducks won 2-0 last season. Florida leads the all-time regular season series 23-17-2 with three ties. The Panthers’ next game after Anaheim is Tuesday at the Los Angeles Kings on ESPN.