Sasha Barkov battling serious illness as he's set to miss even more games
After an awful loss to the St. Louis Blues last night, the Florida Panthers received more bad news. Team captain and star center Aleksander Barkov will not join the team to Western Canada. Barkov is currently battling a non-Covid-19 illness.
Losing Barkov for any period of time is a tough loss for the Panthers. He is one of the teams best and most complete players. He plays in all situations and he will be surely missed against Edmonton and Calgary. Replacing a guy at his skill level is almost impossible. Also, the team blew a 4-1 lead in the third period of last night game. They really could have used Barkov in the lineup last night as well. Florida does not look like the same offensive juggernaut they were last year at all. The Panthers currently sit in fifth place in the Atlantic and will have to carry on without their captain. Let's hope Barkov recovers and can rejoin his teammates soon.
Also complicating matters is the fact that Florida has absolutely no cap space. The Panthers have only been skating with eighteen players on their roster and they have even played games with less than that at times. General Manager Bill Zito has not done a good job managing cap space appropriately at all. Zito has really handcuffed this team by being too liberal with the salary cap. With Barkov out, Aleksi Heponiemi has been recalled from the Charlotte Checkers on an emergency basis that will not count against the cap.
| POLL | ||
Are the Panthers still a playoff team? | ||
| No, Bill Zito ruined them | 31 | 54.4 % |
| Yes, they are | 26 | 45.6 % |
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