Teammates: Barkov among NHL elite
SUNRISE — Ask Florida forward Vincent Trocheck who the best three players in the NHL are right now, and the first two names he offers won’t surprise anyone. The third might. Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby would almost certainly be on everybody’s list, so he was an easy pick by Trocheck. Same goes for Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, the NHL’s twotime reigning scoring cham- pion and brightest young star. But that third name is of someone the casual hockey fan still might not know, and that’s something the Panthers are determined to change this season.
Yes, Florida thinks Alek- sander Barkov is elite. The Panthers’ hopes rest on being right.
“He’s been that good,” Trocheck said. “It’s just a matter of people starting to realize it now.”
Barkov led t he Panthers with 78 points last season, three more than Trocheck. He went to the All-Star Game for the first time, led the league with five short-handed goals, tied for fourth in the NHL with eight game-winning goals. And he showed the Pan- thers enough growth that the team decided it was time to make the 23-year-old Finnish center their captain starting this season.
It’s his team now, without question.
“I tell you what, man, he’s probably the most complete player I’ve ever played with,” Florida goalie Roberto Luongo said. “Both ends of the rink, he’s so smart, so strong, always in great posi- tion. I’ve played with some great players, but the fact that he’s so good offensively and responsible defensively in his own zone, it’s hard to find guys like that.”
Consider the magnitude of Luongo’s statement — “the most complete player.”
Luongo has played with some serious greats: Pavel Bure, Joe Nieuwendyk, Dan- iel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Mats Sundin, Ryan Kesler and Jaromir Jagr among them in the NHL, say nothing of the absurdly loaded teams he’s been part of represent- ing Canada at the Olympics. So Barkov is Florida’s star. He’s not a reluctant star. He’s just reluctant to talk about it.
Florida doesn’t get on national television often, has been to the playoffs only once in Barkov’s five seasons and hasn’t won a playoff series since he was 9 months old. That creates an ironic sit- uation — the Panthers want more people to know who Barkov is, but Barkov wants minimal attention.
“All I want to think about is going on the ice, help the team to win, score goals and play defense and not to get scored on,” said Barkov, who should contend for the Selke Trophy — presented to the NHL’s best defensive forward. “I don’t really want to think about where I stand in the Selke ratings or whatever. Of course, that would be nice to win that one day, but all I want is to make the playoffs and win a Stanley Cup.”