Young defenseman destroys superstar center's knee with brutal knee-on-knee hit

The 2023-24 season is only a few short weeks in and already we have seen a litany of unfortunate injuries. The latest candidate to miss some time is Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.

Barkov suffered an unfortunate injury on Friday after being clipped by a clear knee-on-knee hit from rookie defenseman Jackson LaCombe (ANA) on a completely avoidable play. These hits are very frustrating to see:


Following the game, the Panthers did not have an update on Barkov, nor was one provided on Saturday. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said that the focus would be to get Barkov back to Florida and to have him undergo some tests to determine the extent of the damage.


Dr. Harjas Grewal, a family doctor who happens to tweet about NHL injuries, has revealed some of the most likely scenarios for Barkov, without having actually examined the player himself, just from watching the replay of the hit. Here's his list of what he believes the injury to Barkov's knee could be:



Obviously, this is a tough situation for not only the Panthers but for the NHL as a whole. Both the team and the league wants the best players playing games. Nobody wants to see a player of Barkov's caliber on the shelf because of a reckless, dirty, knee-on-knee hit like that.