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Panthers’ rookie Barkov suffers lower-body injury

Florida Panthers v Tampa Bay Lightning

TAMPA, FL - OCTOBER 10: Aleksander Barkov #16 of the Florida Panthers brings the puck up ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on October 10, 2013 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Mike Carlson

Florida Panthers rookie forward Aleksander Barkov left Thursday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets with a lower-body injury, as per George Richards of Miami Herald.

Barkov, 18, was selected second overall in this summer’s NHL Draft and has four goals and 10 points so far this season.

Barkov’s last shift of Florida’s 5-2 win over the Jets came before the midway point of the third period. It hasn’t been determined just how this injury occurred.

Still just a teenager, Barkov is still eligible to play for Finland in the 2014 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.

However, Panthers general manager Dale Tallon recently made it clear Barkov would not be released to Finland for the annual U-20 tournament.

“There’s no way he’s going anywhere but here,” Tallon said recently. “We have to let him grow. He’s a big part of our future and our present.”

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