Panthers' Aleksander Barkov injury return timeline is in spotlight as NHL season begins

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The Florida Panthers are without multiple stars to begin their back-to-back Stanley Cup title defense.

One of them is a center, Aleksander Barkov. He's out injured on opening night and beyond.

He's a crucial absence to what Florida wants to accomplish.

Barkov is 30 years old now and has 782 NHL points in 804 games.

He has spent all 12 of his NHL seasons with the Panthers. Last year, Barkov had 20 goals and 51 assists in 67 regular season games.

But for now, he won't be able to produce numbers until he can get back on the ice.

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How long is Aleksander Barkov out?

Barkov looks likely to miss the entire 2025-26 season.

He tore his ACL and MCL at practice a few weeks ago.

He had surgery the day after the injury, and the Panthers announced a seven-to-nine month recovery timeline.

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did chat with Barkov recently and revealed that Barkov hinted at a five-to-six month recovery timeline.

Whether that's realistic or not remains to be seen. For now, it's clear that Barkov won't be back until well into 2026, one way or the other.