The Unsung Hero: How Barkov Transforms From the Most Underrated Player to One of the Stanley Cup Heroes

This season has already become one of the most successful in the history of the club for Florida. Paul Maurice's wards managed something incredible: they climbed into the playoffs with great difficulty, finishing eighth in the Eastern Conference, after which they alternately removed three favorites from their path and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. And although the main creators of this success are now called Matthew Tkachuk, who churns out decisive goals, and Sergei Bobrovsky, who reflects the non-taking shots, it is impossible to overestimate the contribution of Alexander Barkov, who throughout his career in the NHL did not receive due respect from the public.

Of course, it cannot be said that Barkov remains completely unnoticed by experts and fans. Many people understand how important the functions of a Finn of Russian origin are, but still others are in the spotlight. So, on the Sportsnet portal, the phenomenon of Tkachuk is being discussed with might and main, speaking of his readiness to become the "new face of the league".

And there are reasons for this. In the first year after the exchange from Calgary, the American not only became Florida's top scorer in the regular season and only the second hockey player in the history of the team to exchange a three-digit mark on points scored for the championship (109), but did not slow down in the playoffs. Before Matthew, no player of the club managed to break through the 20-point mark in the campaign for the trophy, and his winning goal in the series with Carolina forced many to proclaim him the full leader of the Panthers.

Bobrovsky is not deprived of the love of the public, giving out a real extravaganza after a series of frankly unsuccessful performances in the Stanley Cup. The Russian ranks second in the percentage of reflected shots (93.5%) among goalkeepers who have played more than five games in the tournament, slightly behind Vegas goalkeeper Edin Hill (93.7%). In terms of reliability, he is fourth (2.21) behind Hill (2.07), Igor Shesterkin (1.96) and Frederik Andersen (1.83), whom he surpassed in the East final. And this despite the fact that only Jake Oettinger from Dallas was forced to work more than Sergei in this playoff at the last turn (he played 19 games against 14 for the Russian).

Barkov, on the other hand, does not stand out for top indicators. In the list of top scorers, he shares 14th place with Mitchell Marner, Chandler Stevenson, William Karlsson and Joe Pavelski with 12 points. In terms of usefulness, he also closes the second ten ("+7") in the league, and in his team he is not in the top three, behind not only defenders Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling, but also Tkachuk and Carter Verage. However, all this only confirms the fact that basic statistics do not always reflect the role of the player and the importance of the individual in hockey.

Yes, Barkov also had bright moments during this playoffs. Suffice it to recall his goal against Carolina after a feint with a false puck wire between his legs. Then everyone admired him, and Wayne Gretzky called the goal "one of the greatest" that he saw in the Stanley Cup. The legendary Canadian especially noted the fact that this was done at an important moment - the Panthers were losing with a score of 0: 1 and for a long time could not pick up the keys to Andersen's goal.

And Gretzky's praise was evidence of a change in rhetoric towards Barkov. If earlier many preferred to simply ignore it, now the achievements are finally beginning to be appreciated.

"You've got a TV, so you can see everything it's capable of... Size, excellent possession of the club, the ability to organize combinations. He's just a very physically powerful person, regardless of whether we're talking about breakthroughs through defense or shots on goal," Paul Maurice was quoted as saying by The Yardbarker.

It is noteworthy that not only Maurice, but also former Panthers head coach Andrew Brunette spoke about the lack of attention to the center forward. In February 2022, he spoke about one of the leaders of the team when he scored a goal and an assist in the confrontation with Carolina.

"He never tires of surprise. Sasha is so talented a player, just as underrated. It's great that the match was shown on national television - I hope now America has seen how great a master he is, "the mentor said.

And the lack of proper respect for Barkov is really amazing. After all, we are talking about the best scorer in the history of the Panthers both in the regular season (243 + 388) and in the Stanley Cup (10 + 25), as well as the winner of the Selkie Trophy, which is awarded to the best defensive striker. In 2021, Alexander was ahead of a number of star colleagues and took an honorary award, and a year later he was again in the top three. However, this time it was not possible to win the prize. The trophy went to Patrice Bergeron of Boston for the fifth time.

In addition, Barkov in recent years has been recognized as one of the most advanced hockey players in the league according to the results of a vote conducted by the NHL Players Association (NHLPA). In 2022, he finally got ahead of the same Bergeron and took second place, losing only to Sidney Crosby, who reigns supreme in this category, but this year he again rolled back to third position. He was also among the five most skilled athletes in terms of club ownership. Last year, he lost only to Patrick Kane, Connor McDavid and Nathan McKinnon.

At the same time, over the past five years, the NHLPA has identified the names of the NHL's most underrated athletes three times — in all three cases, Barkov was on the list. And if in 2018 he became only the fourth, behind Nikita Kucherov, Jayden Schwartz and Niklas Bäckström, then in 2019 and 2023 he confidently led the poll.

"To be honest, I went through this years ago. I think he's up there. Everyone knows about it. As for us, we recognise that he has been one of the best players over the years... He's just doing everything right. The guy who wins all the fights is phenomenal with the stick, and his shooting strength and skating speed are a bit underestimated, to be honest. He is perfect on all parts of the court, always making sure to be in the right place, and doing those little things that you appreciate when you play with him, "described Barkov his Florida teammate Anthony Duclair.

Indeed, Barkov very often does extremely important things, while remaining in the shadows. For example, after the fourth match of the series with Carolina, everyone admired Tkachuk's double, but forgot that Barkov scored no less points. In the first minute, it was he who brought Duclair, who succeeded in finishing off, and also organized the winning goal at the very end of regular time. First, Alexander helped to bring the puck into the opponent's zone, and then gave the finest pass to Matthew, although he could have made a different decision. On the dime was Sam Bennett, who was blocking the view of the goalkeeper, which opened up prospects for the Russian Finn both for a pounce on the goal and for a shot.

And now Barkov is one step away from making his dream come true. After winning the Lady Bing Trophy in 2019, he admitted that he hoped to lift the Stanley Cup over his head someday. At the time, his words seemed too optimistic. That season, Florida finished only tenth in the East and failed to make it to the playoffs for the third time in a row.

"In my opinion, we have a really good team, and we just need to take the next step forward, which we failed to take this year. Of course, you can't constantly say that there is next year. At some point, you have to start doing something real. Hopefully it will happen in October... I'd love to wait for the moment and someday lift the Stanley Cup over my head in a Panthers sweater. And I am ready to make every effort to do so," Barkov said.

And it was from the next season that the team began to gradually approach the fulfillment of this goal. In the summer of 2019, Bobrovsky joined Florida, who finally helped it break into the top eight in its conference. A year later, Duclair and Verage were signed as free agents, who later became one of the team's top scorers. And in 2021, the Panthers traded Sam Rinehart and Brandon Monthur from Buffalo, and also took Forsling and Bennett, strengthening both the offensive and defensive lines. And on the third attempt, they still managed to get to the Stanley Cup Finals, simultaneously winning the Prince of Wales Prize.

And although touching the award for winning the conference has long been considered a bad omen, this did not stop Barkov. The path to this trophy was too long and difficult.

"It's hard to explain now. It means a lot. To achieve this, you know how hard you need to work. You can see how many great teams we've just beaten in the playoffs. It wasn't easy, and no one said it would be easy. But, obviously, we all know that we are waiting for another big series," Barkov said after the end of the confrontation with Carolina.

And although Alexander was born in Finland and admitted that he did not consider the idea of a possible performance for the Russian national team, his triumph will surely please fans from Russia. Despite the fact that the hockey player has spent his whole life outside the country, he speaks Russian language fluently.

"I grew up in a Russian family, we communicate in Russian. In Finland, it was like this: I left the house - I am a Finn, I went home - I am Russian, "Barkov admitted in 2018.