BOCA RATON, Fla. — Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov underwent his first day of rehabilitation Thursday. As he sat at the Panthers practice facility hours before he was awarded a key to the City of Boca Raton in a private ceremony, he was casually dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, brace on his left knee, and reflected on angrily throwing his gloves down to the floor in San Jose on Oct. 1 after sustaining his second major injury in 13 months.

“I felt that something’s wrong for sure,” Barkov told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I walked off, we did some examinations. It didn’t feel as bad as it did the year before. So, kind of lucky how, hopefully, good, it ended up.”

Barkov, a longtime Boca Raton resident and native of Tampere, Finland, was given the Key to the City by Boca Raton mayor Andy Thomson on Thursday afternoon in ceremony attended by city council members and a crowd of about 200 at Boca Ice, an ice skating and hockey facility.

“Honestly, I don’t know much about what that means,” Barkov said with a slight smile, “but living there for such a long time, and considering that it’s the best place I’ve ever been, and to call it my home and then get this honor by that city, it means a lot to me.”

Thomson made it clear what the key means.

“A key to the city historically means that you are welcome and honored to be in the place that you are,” Thomson said. “It’s one of the highest honors a city can bestow. Normally it symbolizes love and trust. Back in the days when cities had gates, a key signified that you were able to come into the city whenever you wanted. We don’t have gates like that anymore. But it means the same. It means that Sasha is always welcome here. And that we are proud to have you call Boca Raton your home.”

Of course, on Friday, it’s right back to rehabilitating an injury that won’t require surgery.

Coach Paul Maurice said the optimistic window for Barkov, a team captain and one of South Florida’s top athletes, to return is six to eight weeks.

Barkov is on the long-term injured reserve list. He was injured in the second period of the Panthers’ 4-3 overtime loss to San Jose. It appeared that Sharks defenseman Darnell Nurse shoved him and he fell awkwardly.

It was Barkov’s second game back after he missed all of last season with an ACL and MCL injury to his right knee on Sept. 25, 2025, almost a year to the day of his recent injury, during the first practice of training camp.

Barkov missed the season and the Panthers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019, finishing 40-38-4 with 84 points, seventh in the Atlantic Division.

Barkov, a workout fiend, is taking a pragmatic approach to his latest injury. He seems more focused on rehabilitation than predictions about when he’ll return.

“Just need to rehab, obviously,” he said, “but still, yeah, just frustration. Just came back two games and it happens again. Those are the things that went through my mind.”

Barkov said last year’s rehab was “pretty good.”

“Of course there are some days where it was hard to get going and do the same thing all over again,” he said, “but then I wouldn’t say there was any frustration or angriness.

“I just knew that these things need to be done for myself to feel good. Same thing right now. I can’t say how it’s going to feel in one week, but for now, I’m very, very excited about trying to make this better than before.”

The 31-year-old Barkov, at a well-chiseled 6 feet 3, 212 pounds, has been a Panthers team captain since 2018. He was the second overall pick of the 2013 draft and is the Panthers all-time leader in games (806), goals (286), assists (496) and points (782).

In the last NHL season he played, the title season of 2024-25, he had 71 goals in 67 games. That was the year he won the Selke Trophy, given to the NHL’s best defensive forward, for the third time.

He won the Lady Byng Trophy, given for sportsmanship, in 2019.

In February, he gave $1 million to the rehab center at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, launching the Barkov Sports Medicine Program. It’s aimed at helping patients who are 18 years old and younger in areas such as nutrition, concussion protocol and injury prevention. It’s the crown jewel in a relationship that began in 2019.

Off the ice, Barkov is a quiet, humble star, someone who stays out of the spotlight by design and by personality. He doesn’t crave or seek attention. He slips into basketball games — Miami Heat and FAU — generally under the radar. He chose to live in Boca Raton instead of Fort Lauderdale. He prefers things a bit more quiet, more laid back. It’s a style that fits his personality.

Barkov loves tennis. His girlfriend, Marie, was a Czech pro tennis player. He’s been to three of the four majors — US Open, Wimbledon and French Open. He’s only missing the Australian Open to complete his Grand Slam of attendance.

Barkov, one of the most humble stars in pro sports, has a ton of well-wishers locally and nationally for his rehabilitation.

Anaheim Ducks forward A.J. Greer, a member of the 2025 Panthers title team, started a postgame interview last week with a get-well shoutout to Barkov.

If this rehabilitation resembles last year’s, Barkov will work for two to three hours a day and then do additional therapy before heading home.

“It’s all about your mindset,” he said of rehab. “Of course, it’s hard to think about, ‘OK, I’m going to be away again for a little while,’ but the less you think about it, the better your rehab will be.

“You’ve just got to attack it. And we have great people here who take care of me — doctors, physios, and strength coaches. They’ll have a good program for me and we’ll do it again and try to make it better than before. So that’s the goal.”

And he had a message for Panthers fans.

“I want to tell them that I’m attacking the rehab as hard as I can and hoping I’ll be back as soon as possible once I feel good enough,” he said. “Thanks for all the support. I know there’s been a lot of messages and best wishes. I’m really, really lucky to have such great fans here. So, thank you for that.”

©2026 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Visit sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.