Panthers make decision on Barkov’s status for Game 4. And Zito a finalist for top GM
Wednesday has a chance to be a historic day for the Florida Panthers and Aleksander Barkov will be there for it.
The All-Star center, who has been a Panther since he was 17, will return to the lineup for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals after he left Game 3 with a lower-body injury in the first period Monday.
“Ready to roll,” coach Paul Maurice said. “Freshest guy on the ice.”
Barkov, 27, played just 3:51 before leaving with about seven minutes left in the opening period of a shut-out win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3. Florida listed him as “questionable” to return and Maurice said his departure was mostly “precautionary” after he took a seemingly innocuous hit from Hurricanes forward Jack Drury.
He was a full participant in the Panthers’ morning skate Wednesday, skating in his usual white jersey, and taking line rushes in his typical spot between left wing Carter Verhaeghe and right wing Anthony Duclair.
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Florida can sweep Carolina and clinch its first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1996 — just its third season of existence — with a win Wednesday at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise.
Barkov entered Game 4 of the East finals with four goals, eight assists, 40 shots, 10 blocked shots and a plus-minus of plus-6 in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. He has been the Panthers’ captain since 2018 and was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2013 NHL Entry Drafty by Florida. It took him nearly a decade just to win a single game in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and now he’s on the brink of the Cup Finals.
“He’s an unusual man because most guys I think that get to that type of elite level, they do have this kind of ego,” Maurice said. “It doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but he seems to be completely devoid of ego.”
The first-year coach insisted, however, there would be no emotional component to the Barkov decision. The Panthers wasn’t going to force him back into the lineup just so he could be on the ice for a potential clinching situation.
Still, he was badly missed in Game 3, even though Florida won. The Panthers managed just 17 shots and got outshot 31-9 during 5-on-5 play, struggling to retain any possession without their top-line center to carry the puck through the neutral zone.
“We settled,” Maurice said, “but we still didn’t get back to looking the way that we would normally look.”
Zito finalist for GM award
It has been less than three years since he took over as general manager and Bill Zito has completely transformed for the Panthers.
After his boldest offseason yet and a run to the brink of the Finals, Zito is again a finalist for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award.
Zito, 58, was also a finalist for the award in 2021 after his first season as GM, but is probably the favorite to win it now. The other finalists are Stars general manager Jim Nill and Bruins general manager Don Sweeney.
Voting for the Jim Gregory Award takes place after the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, putting an inordinate amount of weight on postseason play in the voting. Although Zito’s overhaul in his first offseason did more to transform Florida with 10 new additions to the everyday lineup, the Panthers’ run to their first ECF since 1996 gives him his best chance to win the award yet, especially given how high-profile his moves were in the offseason following a Presidents’ Trophy-winning campaign last year.
First, he decided not to retain Andrew Brunette even after the interim coach was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award and replaced him with Maurice. About a month later, he traded away star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau and star defenseman MacKenzie Weegar to get superstar right wing Matthew Tkachuk from the Flames.
Maurice’s defensive-minded system and Tkachuk’s 19 points in the first 15 games of the Cup playoffs are two of the biggest reasons the Panthers are could clinch a trip to the Finals on Wednesday.
In all, only four players on the postseason roster predate Zito’s time in South Florida.
