FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — In the mind of Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, the difficult part of his comeback is already over.
It happened in May, in a far-from-filled Swedish arena, when Barkov suited up for Finland in an exhibition against Switzerland for his first game since shredding his right knee in the Panthers' first training camp practice 7 1/2 months earlier. And on one of his very first shifts, he tumbled to the ice.
Nothing bad happened.
“Very good news,” Barkov said.
That was it. That was all it took for Barkov to realize his surgically repaired knee was good, that he could play without fear or concern. A few weeks later, he hoisted the trophy when Finland won the IIHF world championship.
And now he's home in Florida, set for the start of training camp and ready to lead a team that — even after missing the playoffs last season — has been set by most sportsbooks as the favorite to win what would be its third Stanley Cup in a four-year span.
“Don't take anything for granted,” Barkov said, when asked what he learned from not being able to play for Florida last season. “You just have to enjoy every single chance you get to play hockey, to be with your teammates, to go to every single practice, every single game. You’ve got to be excited about that.”
The Panthers — who were holding media day on Wednesday in advance of Thursday's first practice of camp — have plenty of reasons to be excited. Many core players from the runs to the Cup titles in 2024 and 2025 are back, names like Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell, Dmitry Kulikov and Niko Mikkola.
Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk's brother, has been added to the mix and Florida even brought Radko Gudas — a fan favorite from his first stint with the Panthers — back to help shore up the defense. And in net, with Sergei Bobrovsky gone to Toronto, Florida is turning the goaltender job over to Jacob Markstrom.
“Every single guy who has come in, they look so determined to be their best and to show their best," Barkov said. “But they also know that we’re all in this together. Every single person is important, and every single has their own abilities to lead in their own way. We have many of those guys, so that’s the best part of this. No one’s here by themselves. Everyone can be just whatever they are.”
That didn't happen last season. Injuries gutted the Panthers, starting with Barkov.
He got hurt about 20 minutes into the first practice of training camp, tearing the ACL and MCL in his right knee on Sept. 25, 2025. He had surgery a day later and was skating within a few months, but by the time he was ready to seriously consider returning to game action Florida — which dealt with injuries all year — was out of playoff contention and didn't get a chance at trying to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup.
It wasn't entirely a lost season for Barkov. He missed the chance to serve as Finland's captain at the Milan Cortina Olympics, but played for his country at the IIHF world championships this past spring — and got to hoist the trophy when Finland beat host Switzerland 1-0 in the gold medal game.
And now, Florida's career leader in goals and assists is raring to go with the Panthers once again.
“We all know camp is always going to be hard, no matter what. It's going to be hard physically and mentally," Barkov said. "We're all kind of ready for that test.”
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