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The Florida Panthers’ quest to become the first professional organization to three-peat since the Los Angeles Lakers in the early 2000s hasn’t gotten off to a hot start.
Sasha Barkov could miss the entire season after tearing his ACL just before the season started, and Matthew Tkachuk remains on injured reserve to deal with the groin injury he suffered way back during the 4 Nations tournament.
Tomas Nosek, Dmitry Kulikov and Jonah Gadjovich have all missed time through injury, with striker Eetu Luostarinen joining them after an unpredictable injury.
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Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen moves the puck against the Dallas Stars in the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro/Imagn Images)
The Panthers said Luostarinen suffered burns in a “grilling accident” and there is no timetable for his return.
“I’m going to list him on a week-to-week basis because we don’t have a lot of experience with this and some of this is when he comes back and feels comfortable with the gear on,” head coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday. “He was not in the hospital overnight. He was attended to by doctors in that vein.”
Barkov, Kulikov, Gadjovich and Nosek all still have months left in their recovery; Tkachuk can start skating at the end of this month and could make his season debut sometime in December.
Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen in the first period against the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center in San Jose. (Darren Yamashita/Imagn Images)
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Forward Cole Schwindt, who the Panthers claimed off waivers last month to help with their injury woes, is now on the injured list himself. Schwindt will have surgery in the coming days to repair a broken arm, and the Panthers expect him to miss two to three months.
The “grill luck” comes about a week after the New Jersey Devils announced that Jack Hughes would miss about eight weeks after he reportedly cut his finger after slipping and falling on glass.
Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen hoists the Stanley Cup after winning game six of the 2025 Stanley Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena. (Jim Rassol/Imagn Images)
Florida has made it to three straight bowl finals, but they currently sit in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with 19 points (10-8-1). The last NHL team to three-peat was the New York Islanders, when they won four straight to begin the 1980s.
