Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov's injury fate confirmed by head coach Paul Maurice

Aleksander Barkov has been missing quite some time for the Panthers this season, but now his return date has been confirmed by Head Coach Paul Maurice.

The Florida Panthers have been playing well once more to start the 2024/25 regular season, posting a 4-3-1 record through eight games thus far, and they've been doing so without two of their top stars. One of those stars is also their captain Aleksander Barkov, who has been missing since he went down with a scary injury against the Ottawa Senators.

Thankfully for the Panthers, Paul Maurice has now revealed that he will be back very soon, noting on Thursday that he is a possibility for Saturday's game against the New York Islanders, but is all but a guarantee to return on Monday when the team do battle with the Buffalo Sabres leading into the Global Series.

Despite initial fears that this could be a very serious injury, it was revealed that Barkov had just a bad sprain that kept him out week-to-week, and with the team playing just six games in his absence, overall the team will consider themselves lucky for how this all played out.

In his absence, the team have been led by starring Sam's in Bennett and Reinhart, who have combined for an impressive 20 points in just eight games played, showing that this team still has the depth, the star power and the drive to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals. With Matthew Tkachuk also out, this team has shown they are still a major threat in 2024/25, and with Barkov sliding straight back into the lineup ahead of the highly anticipated Global Series, this team has a chance to make their mark on the Atlantic Division once again.

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