In Wake of Barkov Injury, the Florida Panthers Make Changes

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers were back on the ice Friday morning and, due to a knee injury, were without captain Sasha Barkov.

Barkov had what is considered season-ending surgery on his right knee, so they are going to have to get used to being without him at least for the foreseeable future.

So, what’s next?

On Friday, before coach Paul Maurice confirmed Barkov needed surgery, we speculated what the Panthers could do if their top center was out.

At Friday’s first practice, we got a look at what Maurice is thinking — at least right now.

The bottom line is, you just do not replace a player of Barkov’s caliber.

Barkov is one of the top centers in the entire NHL, a three-time winner of the Selke Trophy for defensive play by a forward.

“There’s no hiding it, that’s a hole. That’s the big man,’’ Maurice said. “He is such an important piece in that locker room. What we’ll get to know now is some of the other leaders in the room. We’ll get to see other players and, at the end of the day, I know there’s the idea of ‘next man up,’ and I get all that.

“But there’s not a next-man [to fill] Barky’s skates. We just have to share it, spread it across the room and among the coaches. We have to share that.”

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On Friday, Maurice kept one of his lines together and mixed things up for the remaining three.

Sam Bennett centered a new top line with Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart.

This is a trio we have not seen much of over the years.

Maurice said it was time to see how those three look together.

“The idea today is, ‘what don’t I know?’ That’s what I’m looking at,” Maurice said. “We have not seen Verhaeghe, Bennett, and Reinhart play together. We want to get a bit of a feel for it.”

Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, and Brad Marchand were fantastic throughout the 2025 postseason and were likely to start the season together as Florida’s third line.

Now, it looks like they will be the second.

The big change is on the third line where Evan Rodrigues and Mackie Samoskevich — who looked like they would start in the top-6 before the injury to Barkov — will team up with Jesper Boqvist.

Rodrigues, Florida’s main Swiss Army knife, has played the center position a lot throughout his career but not much in Florida due to the depth of the Panthers.

That has quickly changed due to the injuries to Barkov and Tomas Nosek.

When Barkov was hurt early last season, Rodrigues teamed up with Boqvist and Samoskevich then, too.

“It is a fast line, and we play responsible and look to make things happen off the rush,’’ Rodrigues said on Friday. “Being in the middle of those two is definitely exciting for me. I think all three of us are looking forward to it. We made some things happen, and we’re looking to build on it.”

Luke Kunin, signed to a one-year deal in July, will replace Nosek as Florida’s fourth line center at least for now.

AJ Greer and Jonah Gadjovich should join him there. Gadjovich did not practice Friday due to an injury and was replaced by Noah Gregor who is in camp on a PTO and could get a serious look to stick around.

Tyler Motte is also in the running to make the Panthers off a PTO. He also did not practice Friday due to a lower-body issue he sustained Wednesday against Carolina.

Motte, who has played 455 NHL games, could be back on the ice today.

Regardless of how the Panthers lined up Friday, nothing is written in stone.

And that would be the case if Barkov was not hurt as well. Just the nature of the business.

Lines change.

But Friday did show what the Panthers and Maurice was thinking about how they may look come Oct. 7 against the Blackhawks.

“Each line looks different,’’ Maurice said, “but none of it is going to stay, you know how it works. That’s just the natural progression. At some point, Reinhart is going to go with Lundell; Marchand is going to play with Bennett. Maybe we play them with Rodrigues.

“If there is one advantage of having an injury during a year is, you get to see what else works.’’

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS LINES

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 13 Sam Reinhart

27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 63 Brad Marchand

70 Jesper Boqvist // 17 Evan Rodrigues // 11 Mackie Samoskevich

10 AJ Greer // 71 Luke Kunin // 12 Jonah Gadjovich

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones

7 Dmitry Kulikov // 2 Jeff Petry

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

40 Daniil Tarasov

Injured: Sasha Barkov (knee), Matthew Tkachuk (sports hernia/groin), Tomas Nosek (knee)

2024 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2025

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ON DECK

• Preseason Game No. 4: Monday vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 6 (Panthers+, Scripps)
• Preseason Game No. 5: Tuesday vs. Tampa Bay Lightning at Orlando, 7 (Panthers+, Scripps)
• Championship Ring Celebration: Oct. 6, FTL War Memorial
• Opening Night: Oct 7 vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 5
• Complete Florida Panthers 2025-26 Schedule