As the National Hockey League regular season is set to commence October 7, two players are going to be out long term. They are Dallas Stars left winger Jamie Benn of Victoria, British Columbia and Florida Panthers Aleksander Barkov of Tampere, Finland. Benn has a collapsed lung, and Barkov has a knee injury.
How long are the players expected out for?
Benn is projected to be out at least one month. It should be noted that at that time, he will be re-evaluated. It seems like we are dealing with a late October/early November time frame for Benn’s return.
Barkov could miss the remainder of the 2025-26 NHL regular season after having knee surgery. One must remember, Panthers star power forward Matthew Tkachuk missed a significant part of the 2024-25 season too and will miss more time in the 2025-26 season from a torn adductor muscle/sports hernia injury. Tkachuk was available for the Panthers in the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and he and Barkov played instrumental roles for a Florida team that won a second straight Stanley Cup title. It will be interesting to see how healthy Barkov and Tkachuk will be come playoff time in spring, when the games matter the absolute most.
When did these injuries happen?
Benn’s injury came on Tuesday in a 3-2 Stars overtime win over the Wild in Dallas. The diagnosis of the injury happened late in the third period. Barkov injured his knee in practice and will now have zero chance whatsoever of representing Finland at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Barkov’s regular season statistics in 2024-25
Barkov won the Selke Trophy and King Clancy Trophy last season. He had 20 goals and 50 assists for 71 points in 67 games. Barkov had 16 penalty minutes, 28 power-play points, four shorthanded points, four game-winning goals, 149 shots on goal, 580 faceoff wins, a faceoff winning percentage of 56.5%, 54 blocked shots, and 87 hits.
Benn’s regular season statistics in 2024-25
In 80 games, Benn had 16 goals and 33 assists for 49 points. He was a +3 with 70 penalty minutes, 10 power-play points, four game-winning goals, 136 shots on goal, 296 faceoff wins, 45 blocked shots, 114 hits, 13 takeaways and 58 giveaways.
At 38 years of age, Benn still has a lot to give to the Stars. He won 56% of his faceoff draws last season and was second on the Stars in hits. The only Stars player with more hits was rookie defenseman Lian Bischsel of Olten, Switzerland, who had 155 hits.
