Panthers’ Barkov healthy, thriving and ready to chase gold
This article originally appeared on hockeysverige.se and has been translated from Swedish to English.
On Thursday, the Beijer Hockey Games got underway in Ängelholm, Sweden, as the final tournament before next week’s IIHF World Championship in Switzerland.
Finland faced Switzerland, but, more importantly, it marked the return of Aleksander Barkov. The superstar played his first game in 324 days, having not played since lifting the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers on June 17, 2025.
With Barkov in the lineup, Finland lost 5–4 in a shootout. Barkov was held scoreless in his comeback game, but scored Finland’s lone goal in the shootout.
“It was strong of us to come back after trailing 2–0 in the second period,” Barkov told hockeysverige.se after the game. “There were some things we did well, but there were also things we need to clean up. It was a perfect first game for us with so many new guys on the team. We can learn a lot from this game and work on the details in our play that need to improve while also keeping the things that were already good.”
Barkov missed the entire NHL season due to a torn ACL suffered during preseason in August. Since then, Barkov had been forced to undergo a long rehabilitation process before returning at the Beijer Hockey Games.
He was very happy to be able to play again.
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I thought it started well,” Barkov said. “Our line had a good first period, but after that I don’t think we played very well. Of course, you feel more tired as the game goes on, but I expected that too. Right now, I’m just happy to have gotten the first game out of the way.”
The best news for Barkov and the Florida Panthers: his knee didn’t bother him at all.
“I didn’t even think about it, which I see as a huge victory. I was actually really nervous before the first game and didn’t know how it would feel. I’m happy everything went perfectly and nothing happened. I didn’t feel anything at all in the knee, and now I can be completely confident that everything is good.”
There’s obviously some rust he still needs to shake off, but all in all, it was a perfect comeback for one of the NHL’s best two-way players.
“Of course, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse. I don’t want to hide behind the fact that I haven’t played in a long time. Obviously, I want to play better, and I also feel like I can be much better. It wasn’t my best game, but right now I’m just happy to be back on the ice again. I’m looking forward to trying to play better in the next game,” says Aleksander Barkov.