The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers, are already hitting a bump in the road on their quest for a three-peat. It looks like star forward Matthew Tkachuk will be out at the start of the season. And that doesn’t just mean a few games in October; the team could be without him for months. “Anticipate him (Tkachuk) being out until December-ish,” said GM Bill Zito.

If that wasn’t enough, things got tougher for the Florida Panthers during a training camp practice when their captain, Aleksander Barkov, seemed to hurt his right leg. This could mean the team might be missing both of their key players for the season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 7. While the exact nature and severity of Barkov’s injury were still being evaluated, various reports indicated internal concern that it could involve his ACL, an injury that could potentially sideline him long-term.

As for Matthew Tkachuk, he’s still on the mend after the torn adductor muscle and sports hernia he sustained all the way back at February’s 4 Nations Face-Off. In the face of this potential crisis, head coach Paul Maurice’s reaction was strikingly composed. When asked about the captain’s injury, he remained unfazed, framing the situation as a test of the team’s resilience. “Beyond our control. So there’s no concern,” Maurice said. He stressed the importance of a next-man-up mentality, saying that the team’s mission stays the same no matter who’s on the field.

Additionally, the Panthers coach added, “We have to learn to win hockey games without good players. But if that’s the adversity or the test that we face this year, then that’s what we’re gonna do. I mean, I’m not a doctor. So I don’t. Whatever the report is won’t affect how we handle that next day. If he’s not in the lineup on opening night, or if he misses an exhibition game, or if he’s out long-term, it’s just not gonna affect that day. We gotta win the hockey game. We got a prep for it. That’s all.”

If both Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk end up missing out on a chunk of games, it would leave a big gap. Barkov is the franchise’s all-time points leader and a powerhouse on both ends of the ice, really shining in defense. Similarly, Tkachuk has been key for the team’s offense and definitely brings that intimidating presence on the ice—he’s not afraid to throw down the gloves if the chance arises.

But the Panthers’ oft mentioned depth still gives them a bigger cushion than most teams. The team has some solid scorers in Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe, and signing back veterans like Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett during the offseason really helps make sure the Panthers’ lineup can handle tough times. Adding to that, Maurice’s mindset is really what drives the Panthers’ success.

Coaching a team with players like Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, and others isn’t easy

Do you recall when Sam Bennett mentioned that Paul Maurice is “by far the best coach I’ve ever had”? It goes to show the trust and respect that Maurice has cultivated in a short while. After all, managing star players like Brad Marchand, Matthew Tkachuk, and Sam Reinhart requires some finesse. And it’s the coach’s mentality that pushes the Panthers to success and creates a winning mentality.

“I think we’ve always had hard camps,” Maurice said during a media session after a training camp practice in Fort Lauderdale. Additionally, the coach mentioned, “When you come in as a new coach one of the first things you want to get rid of is the strata of your room; the stratification in your room, And that one player will be treated different necessarily. The expectations of the outcomes are different or you can pay one guy 10 million and one guy 775. There’s a reason for that. But we have to find common ground.”

It’s important to recognize that a star player is held to different performance standards compared to others, and that a $10 million salary comes with a different set of responsibilities than a league-minimum contract. Maurice gets that these differences are important, but he believes that “we have to find common ground when we want all the money.”

The coach also mentioned that the first test group had a lighter day, which was a 45-minute session he called “a light day.” He explained, “We didn’t beat these guys into the ice because now they’re going into the heart, and we didn’t—nobody can survive two weeks of that.” This calculation really highlights how to manage athletes effectively, focusing on pacing the intensity to build stamina instead of wearing players out. But, you know, this moderation won’t last forever. Maurice pointed out how monotonous it all is, saying, “We’ll go back, and we will run the exact same practices for the exact same three years, four days, no fun.”

All these factors come together, and the end result is a team like the Panthers. They’re tough and always up for a challenge, and with Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov out, the first game against the Blackhawks is definitely going to be a test for the team.