Panthers' Aleksander Barkov: Hoping to avoid surgery

Barkov suffered from a back malady for a majority of the 2016-17 campaign but doesn't anticipate that he'll need to go under the knife, George Richards of the Miami Herald reports.

Analysis:

The 21-year-old produced at around the same level this season as he did last, but his absence from 21 games was certainly a big reason why the Panthers missed out on playoff hockey. Barkov has proven to be a top offensive center when healthy, but he's yet to play more than 71 games since his career began in 2013-14.