Report: Florida Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov had Pneumonia

According to a report from Finnish news source IS, Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov has been away from the team due to a long bout with pneumonia.

Barkov had been skating on his own the past few days and is expected to be back in the lineup Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings. He has missed the past six games and seven overall due to the illness.

In the story, which IS.FI quotes Sasha’s father — Aleksander Sr. — as saying that, as the Panthers previously explained, Sasha Barkov was sick in missing Florida’s game against Dallas on Nov. 17 but felt better and rejoined the team to play against Calgary two days later.

Barkov ended up playing in three games, including scoring a goal with three points in a win against Boston on Nov. 23 but fell ill once again.

Give the Gift of Daily Coverage of the Florida Panthers:

Get a Subscription to Florida Hockey Now!

According to the article, Barkov Sr. said his son had a fever of 103 degrees at one point.

Barkov missed Florida’s practice the day after Thanksgiving — two days after the Bruins win — and did not play on Nov. 25 against St. Louis with coach Paul Maurice saying team doctors advised him to stay away from the team.

The Panthers had only classified Barkov’s situation as a non-Covid illness although one described it as a severe upper-respiratory condition.

“He is not starting the trip with us, he is not getting on the plane with us,” Maurice said. “The moment he feels ready, we’ll get him on the trip. He has seen all the people he has needed to see and it is precautionary as well. We just don’t want to put him on an airplane where his illness is at right now.

”We are hoping in a couple of days he won’t be contagious and we can get him back in the lineup. If he does not have a fever and is feeling good in a couple days, he’ll be on a plane. If it is a few more days, we’ll wait. If he can‘t get it to break, we’ll see him when we get back home.’’

Barkov did not travel with the team to Edmonton for its five-game road trip and did not meet them during the trip as they had cautiously hoped.

Florida has gone 2-3-2 without Barkov in the lineup this season.

The Panthers are also optimistic that Anton Lundell can return to the lineup on Thursday after missing the past two games upon leaving Florida’s win at Vancouver early.

PANTHERS ON DECK

DETROIT RED WINGS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise 
• Streaming ONLY: ESPN+/Hulu
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
• Last season: Florida won 4-0
• All-time regular season series: Florida leads 33-19-6, 5 ties