The latest on Bennett and Barkov ahead of Panthers’ homestand finale against Kraken

The Florida Panthers’ forward group appears it will be at full strength for the first time this season when the Panthers (3-3-0) close their first homestand of the season against the Seattle Kraken at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Center Sam Bennett practiced with the main on Thursday for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury in Florida’s second-to-last preseason game that has sidelined him for the first six games of the regular season.

And while captain and star center Aleksander Barkov was not on the ice Thursday after sitting out Tuesday’s 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks due to an illness, due to an illness, the anticipation is he will be active on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena.

“We’re starting to hopefully get healthier,” coach Paul Maurice said.

Bennett, entering the third year of a four-year, $17.7 million deal, is Florida’s second-line center when the team is at full strength. He has 50 goals and 54 assists in 144 games with Florida after being acquired from the Calgary Flames at the NHL trade deadline in the 2020-21 season.

Bennett assumed his normal spot in practice Thursday with Matthew Tkachuk on the right wing and Carter Verhaeghe primarily on the left wing.

That allowed Eetu Luostarinen, who assumed Bennett’s spot on the second line for the first six games of the season, to move back to the left wing of Florida’s third line, which Anton Lundell centers.

“Everything’s going according to the plan,” Bennett said. “Starting to ramp it up and I’m definitely feeling good and feeling a lot better.”

Maurice said Barkov is “feeling better,” adding he is hopeful the star center will be with the team for practice on Friday ahead of Saturday’s game.

Steven Lorentz, normally a fourth-line player, filled Barkov’s spot during practice Thursday so that the other lines could remain consistent. That’s generally a sign that a player absent from practice is going to play. Otherwise, Lundell took Barkov’s place on the top line Tuesday against San Jose.

Barkov is third on the team with five assists and tied for third with six points.

“I think everyone in this locker room understands that it’s part of the game,” Bennett said. “Guys are going to go down. You’re going to have adversity and you’ll need guys to step up. I think everyone in this locker room is ready to step up at times and we felt that we could do that.”

This and that

▪ Forward Jonah Gadjovich, who was with the Panthers in training camp and signed a one-year, one-way deal with the club on Oct. 16, was also part of the main practice group for the first time after dealing with an upper-body injury that dates back to last season.

Maurice said Gadjovich, 6-2 and 209 pounds, is still “a ways out” from a full rehab program but is able to participate in practice.

“The doctors will tell you that there has to be a certain amount of time to heal,” Maurice said. “It’s an upper-body injury for him. His legs are good and [the injury is] stable now. He can go out and he can bang but he won’t be back [in a game], I don’t think, in the next few days anyway, the next week or so.”

Gadjovich, a second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft by Vancouver, has played in 79 career NHL games, recording four goals and six assists.

▪ In addition to Barkov’s absence on Thursday, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov did not skate because he was feeling under the weather.

“We bring them in, get them checked out and get them out of the room as fast as we can,” Maurice said. “He may well be practicing [Friday].”

If Kulikov can’t go, that would point to Mike Reilly making his season debut on Saturday. Reilly has been a healthy scratch each of Florida’s first six games.