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Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov receives the Stanley Cup on June 17, 2025. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images) NHLI via Getty Images When Bill Zito landed in the Sunshine State as the Florida Panthers’ general manager in 2020, he wasted now time turning the franchise into a juggernaut. But after news emerged on Friday that Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov is expected to miss seven-to-nine months following knee surgery to repair a pre-season injury, Zito will face arguably his toughest challenge yet as he tries to prepare to chase the 2026 Stanley Cup. Not just the captain but also a three-time winner of the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward, including in 2024 and 2025, Barkov’s 44 points over the last two playoff runs tie him with Carter Verhaeghe for second-most on the Panthers, and his 981:11 of total post-season ice time leads all Florida forwards. The Panthers are coming off three straight appearances in the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 before their back-to-back wins. But the chance of a three-peat as champion was already slim, even before Barkov’s injury. It hasn’t happened in more than 40 years, since the the New York Islanders won four in a row in the 21-team league between 1980 and 1983. Now, with 32 NHL teams, there’s over 50 percent more competition. And while the playing field was levelled somewhat by the introduction of the salary cap in 2005, new rules that are coming into effect this year ahead of the official beginning of the next collective bargaining agreement on Sept. 15, 2026 will create an uncharted landscape as Zito tries to work around the loss of his franchise player. Firstly — teams are now limited in how much cap space they’re allocated to boost…

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Filed under: News - @ September 27, 2025 11:25 pm