Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart played through injuries in Stanley Cup Final

As is tradition, once one team hoists the Stanley Cup, we finally learn shortly after what injuries plagued the winning team on route to their win, and Tuesday night was no different.

In the wake of the Florida Panthers‘ 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers to capture their second consecutive Stanley Cup, head coach Paul Maurice announced that center Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart were both dealing with injuries during the Stanley Cup Final.

Barkov had split his palm open during Game 1 of the Final, and had been playing through that injury for the rest of the series. Not only that, but the Panthers captain had ripped the sutures out twice before the team eventually glued them in.

The injury did slow down Barkov a little bit, but only by his standards, as he still had 5 assists in the 5 games after sustaining the injury. Barkov finished the playoffs with 6 goals and 16 assists for 22 points in 23 games.

Reinhart meanwhile had sustained a Grade 2 MCL tear during the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, one that caused him to miss Games 3 and 4 of that series. Maurice didn’t confirm whether or not Reinhart was playing through the injury during the Final.

Reinhart’s injury also didn’t seem to be too much of a problem for him in the Final, as he actually saw an evolution in his play. After having just 4 goals and 9 assists for 13 points in 15 games through the first three rounds, he managed to put up 7 goals and 3 assists for 10 points in the six-game Final, highlighted by a four-goal game in the Cup-clinching Game 6 win on Tuesday. Overall, his playoffs finished with 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points in 21 games.

At this point, there’s no indication as to what the recovery process will be for either player, but there’s a strong chance that both players should be healed up by the start of the 2025-26 regular season.