The Rise of Aleksander Barkov

Follow the journey of Aleksander Barkov from his early days in Tampere, Finland, to his rise as one of the NHL’s elite players.

Discover how Barkov’s talent and determination helped him break records in the Finnish Elite League, secure a spot in the NHL with the Florida Panthers, and lead his team to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Learn about his numerous accolades, including multiple Selke Trophies, and his impact both on and off the ice.

Let me know if you think Barkov and the Panthers will close out the Oilers in five to clinch the Stanley Cup.

00:00 The Early Years: Barkov’s Hockey Beginnings
00:48 Rising Star: Breaking Records and Overcoming Setbacks
01:46 NHL Debut: Making an Impact with the Panthers
02:41 Rookie Season Highlights and Olympic Dreams
03:32 Sophomore Success and Injury Challenges
04:06 Building Chemistry: Key Line Combinations
05:41 Playoff Push and International Play
06:59 Leadership and Career Milestones
08:46 Consistent Performance and Team Changes
09:24 All-Star Recognition and Captaincy
10:29 Record-Breaking Seasons and Awards
14:12 Pandemic Challenges and Playoff Runs
16:52 Recent Seasons: Injuries and Comebacks
20:39 Historic Playoff Run to the Stanley Cup Finals
21:36 Current Season and Future Prospects

Alexander barkov’s Story begins in Tampa Finland a city steeped in hockey tradition it was here that his father played for tapa in The Finnish Elite league in this hockey Rich environment Young barov found his path he joined tap’s junior system honing his skills and nurturing his dream in 2010 barov emerged as a prodigious Talent becoming one of the youngest players to ever play in the u20 championship series his season stats were impressive tallying five goals and 12 assists in just 25 games the following year at just 16 years old barov played in the Finish Elite league with Tapo having an immediate impact with his first assist he shattered a 37-year-old record becoming the youngest player in league history to score a point as the season unfolded barkov’s role expanded he became the fixture on to R’s power play and average 13 minutes and 32 seconds of ice time per game his remarkable rookie season saw him met seven goals and contribute nine assists across 32 games barov also played for Finland at the World Junior Championships where he broke Sydney Crosby’s record as the youngest player to ever score in the tournament unfortunately his momentum was halted by a bout of mononucleosis which sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season when he returned to the elite league for 2012 to 13 barov set career highs across the board with 21 goals and 27 assists in 53 games he ranked second in scoring for taper up his remarkable season was cut short by an injury necessitating shoulder surgery that sidelined him for the playoffs as well as Fitness testing for the NHL draft despite this setback barkov’s prowess on the ice was undeniable as Central scouting ranked him first among International prospects and fourth overall for the 2013 draft somewhat surprisingly the Panthers selected him second overall ahead of the consensus number two pick Seth Jones cementing barkov’s status as one of the most hyped prospects of his draft year at July barov ined an entry-level contract with the Panthers marking the beginning of his NHL career after signing he attended Panthers Camp ahead of the 2013 to 14 season and made the team darkov made his NHL debut on October 3rd 2013 in a victory over the Stars where he notched his first NHL goal in addition to logging 1534 of ice time and winning three of 13 faceoffs he became the youngest player since the 1967 expansion to score a goal in the NHL as the NHL’s youngest player barkov quickly made his presence felt accumulating Five Points in his first seven games his playing time increased steadily from about 10 minutes early in the season to over 13 minutes by the end of October as barov and fellow rookie Nick bustad soon solidified their roles as key centers praised for his maturity both on and off the ice barov continued to impress in December he had nine points in 10 games thriving on the Panthers Top Line alongside Sean bergenheim and Brad boy but a lower body injury on January 21st sidelined him for four games though he remained just onepoint shy of the team lead with 24 points his impressive performance earned him a spot on team Finland for the 2014 Olympics making him the youngest player ever selected for the squad at the time of his selection barov had eight goals and 16 assists assist on track for a 36-point season unfortunately a season-ending injury during the Olympics cut his promising rookie season short but he did win an Olympic bronze medal as a member of Team Finland in the 2014 offseason the Panthers signed finish free agent UC yinan who was drawn to the Panthers by the opportunity to play on the same team as barov who he got to know during the Olympics as for barov he and his Lin mates made an immediate impact combining for five goals and three assists in the first four games of the season this was before the team’s Dynamic shifted radically when Yar maroger joined the team in late February the veteran was paired with barov and heo on the top line and the result was electrifying with both barov and heo seeing their point production sore during a 12-game stretch in late February and March barov notched eight points while heo accumulated 12 and on April 2nd barkov’s assist helped yogger tie Ron Francis for fourth place on the NHL’s all-time points list by season’s end the trio had amassed 19 goals and 35 assists for 54 points over 21 games barov can included his sophomore season with 36 points including an impressive 15 points in the 21 games following jogger’s arrival building on their success from the previous season barov was reunited with hu and yoger to start 2015 to6 the trio hit the ground running racking up seven goals and 15 points in their first five games with barov contributing three goals and three assists but an injury setback occurred on October 22nd during a game against the Blackhawks when barov suffered a hand injury he was sidelined for 10 games before making his r return on November 16th and a victory over the Lightning barkov’s Return bolstered the Panthers lineup leading the team to their most successful December in franchise history he led the charge with five goals and eight assists totaling 13 points for the month by January 13th barov had 12 goals and 33 games and ranked third on the team with 28 points over 13 games he notched three game winning goals and three multipl games his impressive performance earned him a 6-year $ 35.4 million extension at the time of the signing barov had amassed 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points in 38 games shortly after signing the extension barov suffered another setback after taking a hit from Lings forward just an Abdul cator which sidelined him for six games he returned to action on February 25th and the line of barov hubero and yogger which had combined for 22 goals by that point continued to excel by the end of February barov had 19 goals and 19 assists in 45 games leading the team with eight Power Play Goals while yoger LED with 17 even strength goals on April 2nd the trio combined for seven points helping Florida secure a franchise record 44th win barov had two goals and an assist including the game-winning goal extending his point streak to five games shortly after the Panthers clinched a playoff birth for the first time since the 2011 to 12 season darkov set a new career high with a seven game point streak scoring his fifth goal in four games to help the Panthers clinch the Atlantic division title he concluded the 2015 to 16 Season with career highs and goals with 28 and assist with 31 while crewing only eight penalty minutes in 66 games his disciplined play earned him a nomination for the lady Bing finishing as a runner up to anj Kopitar barov made his first playoff appearance in game one of the Panthers first round Series against the Islanders despite winning 14 of his 19 faceoffs barov and the Panthers fell 5-4 but they bounced back with a victory in game two with barov tying Riley Smith for the team lead with 10 shots on goal although his line with yoger and heo remained scoreless that changed in game three when barov Meed his first career playoff goal although the Panthers lost 4-3 seeking a strategic shift the Panthers deployed 11 forwards in 7D in game four which increased barkov’s ice time he led all Panthers with 24 minutes and 10 seconds helping the team even the series at two games a piece barov scored his second playoff goal in game five which ended in a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss heading into game six barov and heo had averaged 10 shots per game as a Duo but despite their efforts the Panthers were eliminated in double overtime throughout the series barov averaged 2554 of ice time per game and recorded the second most shots on net with 28 he maintained a 53% success rate in the faceoff Circle and finished the playoffs with two goals and one assist in six games following the Panthers elimination barov joined team Finland at the World Championships where he earned more Hardware on the international stage during the 2016 off season the Panthers tried to bster their lineup signing key players like Keith Yandle and Jonathan heo to long-term deals but a preseason set back struck when heo suffered an ankle injury sidelining him for 3 to 4 months Jonathan marcheso a recent free agent acquisition stepped into heo spot on the top line and despite hee’s absence the Top Line thrived in October by the 21st barov and marcheso were leading the team in goals assists and points but barov soon started to struggle going 21 games without a goal he snapped the drought in dramatic fashion scoring the overtime game winner against the wings the goal reignited his offensive production as he registered nine points in the next nine games after starting the season with 11 points and 20 by December 14th barov had tied marcheso for the team lead in points and was first among forwards in shots and game-winning goals but it emerged that he’d been playing through an injury which forced him to miss two to three weeks at the time of his injury he was on a five-game point streak and led the team with 27 points in 36 games after a 15-game absence due to a back injury barov returned in February alongside hubero for a game against the Anaheim Ducks he quickly made his presence felt scoring SC ing two goals in his first three games back his momentum continued amassing five goals and three assists over six games even though an upper body injury ended his season early he finished second on the team with 52 points third in goals with 21 and second in game one in goals with five despite playing Just 61 games leading up to the 2017 expansion draft unsurprisingly barov was among the players the Panthers protected but they saw top talents like Jonathan mariso and Riley Smith depart to Vegas in the off season the Panthers also decided to move on from y maroger bringing back Russian star and former Panther aeni dadonov to take his place on barkov’s line throughout the 2017 to 18th season barkov’s linemates were in flux but his production remained steady by mid November he was averaging over a point per game and logging nearly 23 minutes of ice time by January barov had a mass 14 goals and 26 assists while also leading all NHL forwards in average ice time these achievements earned him his first All-Star selection after the All-Star break barov continued his t Pace recording four goals and six assists in seven February games he finished the season with 27 goals and 51 assists before an upper body injury ended his season with two games remaining his disciplined play reflected in just 14 penalty minutes earned him his second nomination as a finalist for the lady Bank following his career best season barov was named the 10th captain in Panthers history succeeding Derek McKenzie building on his previous success barov set new career highs during the 2018 to9 season early on he tied for 10 place on the Panthers all-time Point list with his 251st NHL Point despite his strong individual performance the Panthers stumbled out of the gate winning just one of their first five games in late October the team traveled to Finland for the NHL’s Global Series where they split two games against the Winnipeg Jets upon their return the Panthers found their Rhythm embarking on a five-game winning streak from November 1st to 15th by late November barov had amassed eight points over seven games and led the league in ice time among forwards as well as takeaways his Ascent continued with his first NHL hattick and a 4-3 overtime win over the Leafs on December 15th this strong play solidified his status as an early Contender for the sky awarded to the League’s best defensive forward although barov was enjoying individual success the Panthers struggled to find consistency by early January they were hovering around 500 prompting head coach Bob buner to shuffle the lines Dennis malan was promoted to the Top Line with barov and heo while dadonov and Hoffman were moved to the second line after the All-Star break ranked second on the Panthers with 47 points and he was third in the NHL in takeaways on February 7th he recorded his 300th Career Point while leading the Panthers to a 3-2 overtime Victory against the Penguins barov credited his increased production to the return of second line Center vny troch which allowed him to conserve energy and play more effectively in his role on the top line on February 17th barov netted his second career hattick in a 6-3 win over the hals and his performance earned him second star of the week honors shortly therea barov became the first Panther to record five assists in a single game and a 6-2 win over the wild the Panther’s Top Line of barov hubero and dadonov combined for 11 assists marking the most assists by three players in NHL history in one game a few games later barov reached the 80 point mark becoming the second player in franchise history to do so huberto also reached 80 points making them the first pair of panthers to achieve this milestone in the same season in a game against the capitals on April 1st barov recorded three assists to Tai pavl B’s franchise record of 94 points in a season he went on to surpass bu’s record with a goal and assist and an overtime loss to the Devils to finished the season with 96 points he was named a finalist for the lady Bing for the third straight season and ultimately won the award having taken just four minor penalties to go with his 96 points during the 2019 off season the Panthers made a pivotal move when one time goalie Roberto Luongo retired and the team signed two-time vzna winner Sergey bosski from Columbus darkov started the season strong posting 10 points during the Panthers eight-game point streak notably he had four assists in a game against the flames on October 24th and by the end of October barov was tied with hubero for the team lead in scoring each with 15 points between October 22nd and November 21st barov amassed seven goals and 16 assists including nine multiplay games for a total of 23 points during this period barov and his linemates hu and dadonov combined for 39 points over nine games that the line struggled in December prompting head coach Joel clinell to shake things up by pairing barov with Frank vetrano and Brett Connelly in mid December on December 16th barov scored his 146th career NHL goal surpassing Steven Weiss for fourth in franchise history with his new linemates barov maintained a three-game point streak registering one goal and three assists after a tough 6-1 loss to the lightning clenil decided to reunite barkov with his former linemates heo and danov aiming to recapture the chemistry that had driven their earlier success while playing with his usual line mates on January 16th barov recorded the 395th point of his career securing third place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list by February 3rd barov had helped the Panthers to a 287 and five record before suffering a lower body injury and a 4 nothing loss to the hals at the time he had 16 goals and 38 assists for 54 points in 50 games Upon returning from injury barov notched his 400th point and 249th assist tying Steven lice for second in Panthers history shortly after after he scored his 152nd NHL goal tying Pavo Beret for third in franchise history and in a loss to the Kings on February 20th barov reached the 20 goal Mark for the fifth consecutive season ranking second on the team with 60 points when the NHL paus due to the co pandemic barov had accumulated 20 goals and 42 assists for 62 points in 66 games in July the Panthers returned to play for the 220 Stanley Cup qualifiers against the New York Islanders during the first round series barov recorded a goal and three assists but the Panthers fell to the Islanders in four games the team struggled offensively as he and HDO were the only Panthers forwards to record more than one point in the series during the 2020 offseason barov teamed up with fellow Finn Patrick Lan to co-host a charity golf tournament supporting the association for persons with intellectual disabilities meanwhile the Panthers made a notable roster change trading Mike Mat and Colton seir to the Penguins in exchange for right-winger Patrick horist horest expressed his excitement about joining the team and prais barov as the most underrated player in the league barov began the co shortened 2021 season with new linemates Anthony duclair and Carter vagi while hubero was paired with Alexander wiberg and hornus on the second line barov and his new linemates quickly found chemistry combining for seven goals and 13 assists in January helping the team maintain their point streak from opening night by February 5th barov ranked second on the team with 11 points as the Panthers extended their point streak to eight games then on February 15th during a 64 win over the lightning barov recorded two points surpassing oie yenan for the second most points in franchise history and a few weeks later barov celebrated a significant Milestone playing in his 500th NHL game on March 1st despite suffering a shoulder injury on March 22nd barov was named Central Division star of the month accumulating five goals and 11 assists in 11 games and leading the Panthers to a 105 and one record he finished the regular season leading the team with 26 goals and 58 points and 50 games becoming the first player in franchise history to achieve six consecutive 50p point and 20 goal Seasons barov then set another franchise Milestone by becoming the first Panther to win the sky as the NHL’s best defensive forward in the 2021 playoffs he contributed a goal in six assists in the Panthers first round series although they were ultimately defeated by the lightning in six games following his sulky win barov signed an 8year $80 million contract extension with the Panthers his strong performance to start the season helped the panther win their first eight games before an overtime loss to the Bruins on October 30th despite the loss the team maintained their point streak with barov ranking second on the team with nine points soon after barov tied oen in for the most goals in franchise history scoring his 188th career goal in a 5-4 win over the capitals and on November 9th he scored his 189th goal to become the franchise’s all-time leading goal scorer a few days later barov suffered a kneeon KNE collision with New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield resulting in another lower body injury at the time barov led the team with nine goals and 17 points in 15 games he missed eight games before returning on December 8th against the blues where he scored less than 7 Minutes in before exiting in the third period with another injury this time an upper body one that sidelined him for an additional four games he returned in late December and by the end of January he’d achieved two significant Milestones recording his 200th NHL goal and 500th NHL point he was the first player in franchise history to score 200 goals for the the Panthers further solidifying his status as one of the Panthers alltime greats by the end of February he netted 25 goals in 40 games and let the team in Power Play Goals with eight he was also tied for first in the league with four short-handed goals from January 1st to March 24th barov scored 16 goals and 26 assists over 31 games and under his leadership the Panthers won the President’s trophy for the first time in franchise history darkov finished the season with 39 goals 49 assists and 88 points in 67 seven games he also won a career best 57% of faceoffs and led all Panthers forwards an average I time while earning a second consecutive skki nomination in the first round of the playoffs against the capitals barov recorded two goals and four assists and his efforts helped the Panthers Advance pass the first round for the first time since 1996 in game one of round two against the lightning barov played 23 minutes and 5 Seconds and recorded five shots on goal but the Panthers struggled offensively and barov finished the series with just one assist as they were swept in four games during the 2022 offseason the Panthers made a big splash by trading for Matthew kchu in exchange for hubero and defenseman McKenzie weager in the Panthers home opener barov played his 600th NHL game and recorded multiple assists for the 71st time by the end of October he was tied for second on the team in PLS with eight and led all Panthers forwards a nice time per game but the next two months proved challenging for both barov and the team by American Thanksgiving the Panthers were fifth in the Atlantic division with a 108 and two record barov also missed several games in November and December due to illness and injuries he then missed the final three games before the Christmas break due to a lower body injury sustained against New Jersey after the break barov made a triumphant return recording the fastest hat-trick to start a game in franchise history by scoring three goals within the first 1522 of the first period by January 14th barov had accumulated 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points in 34 games and that was before going on a hot streak where he had six goals and nine assists over eight games after the All-Star break barov and the Panthers found their Rhythm and began to win more consistently in February they won three in a row for the first time and steadily improved their overall record unfortunately barkov’s month was still marred by injuries causing him to miss four games March saw the Panthers inch closer to a playoff spot winning three consecutive games before a four-game losing streak set them back on March 20th in a game against the Red Wings barov surpassed former teammate Jonathan heo to become the Panther’s all-time leading scorer with 614 points shortly after that he moved past Steven Weiss for second place on the franchise’s all-time games playlist in the final eight games of the Season barov had 12 points to help the Panthers clinch the second wildcard spot in the East he finished the season with 23 goals and 55 assists for 78 points and placed eighth in voting for The suy he was also nominated by the Panthers for the King Clancy award awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice barov was recognized for his three-year partnership with Joe dagio Children’s Hospital during which he donated $1,600 for every goal he scored and $800 for every assist in the 2023 playoffs barov and the Panthers embarked on a surprise run to the Stanley Cup finals they faced the president’s Trophy winning Bruins in the first round and triumphed in a thrilling seven game series early in the series barov and the Top Line received criticism for their lack of production but in game six barov responded with a goal and assist helping to force a decisive game seven with the victory the Panthers Advanced to the second round where they faced the Leafs and defeated them in five games in the Conference finals against the Hurricanes barov found his scoring touch quickly scoring two goals and an assist in the first two games he suffered an injury in game three but returned for game four and contributed to the Panthers sweep of the canes the winner in the Panthers a birth in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1996 heading into the finals against the golden knights barov had already set new career highs and goals in assist through 16 playoff games he added two more points in the finals finishing the postseason with 16 points in 21 games barkov’s outstanding performance continued into the 2023 to 24 season culminating in him winning his second Sky while also recording 80 points and 73 games which brings us to the present where barkov’s outstanding leadership and defensive play has the Panthers within a win of hoisting the Stanley Cup through the first three rounds of the playoffs barov shut down the opponent’s top players and through three of four games in the finals he shut down McDavid and dry cidal let me know if you think the Panthers will finish off the Oilers in game five or if you think edmon can push the series to six and if you enjoyed this video please like And subscribe to support the channel [Music]