FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida captain Aleksander Barkov needed to be helped off the ice after appearing to sustain an injury to his right leg during the first full training camp practice of the season for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions on Thursday.
There was no immediate word on the extent of the injury. Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Barkov was getting further evaluation Thursday.
“I’ll have a better answer for you tomorrow,” Maurice said.
The Panthers have been in camp for a week — they’ve even made one round of cuts already, paring what was a 72-person roster down to 55 — but Thursday was the first day that most of the veterans were expected to participate.
It was not clear what exactly happened to Barkov. He wasn’t able to skate off under his own power when he left the ice and headed to the team’s locker room.
“Not a guy you want to see go down, for sure,” Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist said.
Barkov led the Panthers in assists last season with 51 and was second in points with 71 — then added six goals and 16 more assists in the playoffs when Florida won its second consecutive Stanley Cup.
He is Florida’s franchise leader in countless categories, with games played (804), goals (286), assists (496), points (782), power-play goals (84) and game-winning goals (52) among them.
The Panthers already expect to be without forward Matthew Tkachuk for the first several weeks of the season while he recovers from offseason surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia. Now, they’re waiting to see if Barkov will be out for any significant time as well.
“Beyond our control, so there’s no concern,” Maurice said. “If we have to learn to win hockey games without good players, if that’s the adversity or the test that we face this year, that’s what we’re going to do. I’m not a doctor. Whatever the report is, it won’t affect how we handle that next day. If he’s not in the lineup on opening night, or if he misses an exhibition game, or he’s out long-term, it’s just not going to affect that day. We’ve got to win the hockey game and we’ve got to prep for it.”