Barkov's understated leadership shapes Panthers from within

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- It seems like a throwaway line, somehow. Like a deflection. When asked about his influences, about who has helped him to become the leader and the captain he has become, someone lauded for the atmosphere he creates and the sense of connection he fosters, Aleksander Barkov demurs.

Influences that come from a blend of sources: teams he’s been on in Finland, time with national teams, prior Florida Panthers tenure, and leadership styles of those captains and leaders.

“The main thing is just, I’m being myself,” Barkov said. “I’m not trying to be anything else.”

Then, he adds, “I let 'Chucky' handle the room,” referring to teammate Matthew Tkachuk.

He laughs.

But it’s there, in those words, that the truth of Barkov flows.

He wants to be himself, to be quiet and understated, to let his play and his work, his time in the gym and on the ice, speak for him. He wants his words to carry, when he chooses to use them, to let their rarity be its own emphasis.

It’s the way he has held himself throughout his career, and certainly since he was named captain of the Panthers on Sept. 17, 2018, just before starting his sixth season in the NHL. He had just turned 23 two weeks prior.

He would turn in a career season with 96 points (35 goals, 61 assists), though the Panthers would not make the Stanley Cup Playoffs that year.

But it would be their last one when they wouldn’t.

Since then, under Barkov’s reign, the Panthers have made the postseason six times, including reaching the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past three seasons, winning the Cup in 2024. They -- and Barkov -- will have a chance to repeat, starting with Game 1 of the Cup Final on Wednesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).

He leads the Panthers in these playoffs with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists).

They have taken his image, his influence, and made it their own. Well, sort of.

To that end, coach Paul Maurice offers a story when he was having a year-end meeting with a player.

“He had come in from not having a great year to having a really good year and I said, because it wasn’t me, I didn’t come out and have this great speech and his play took off, it was just what happened,” Maurice said. “And he said, I figured out I could just be myself. I didn’t have to be funnier than I am. I didn’t have to go out if I didn’t want to. I didn’t have to be the tough guy. I could just be myself. And I think that’s where it comes from.”

That is what Barkov does.

In being himself, in being true to who he is, he allows others to do the same.

“We have a really kind of diverse group of guys, lots of different personalities, lots of different styles, and they don’t try to change themselves,” Maurice said. “They’re all just themselves, right? And just whatever their personality is, they can come to the rink and just be themselves. They don’t have to pretend.

“So, you get a really good glimpse of a man, who he is. Then you get to know him a little better because it’s actually who he is, it’s not a persona or he’s not a caricature of an NHL player or a pro sports guy or a big leaguer, whatever. You just get to meet him as who he is, and that probably affects the connections that they make.”

It affects everything.

“If you’re the captain … how you interact really defines how everybody else will,” Maurice said. “He’s wickedly smart on short one-liners, but he doesn’t talk a lot. He’s a quiet guy. But he’s funny as hell and he’s just kind to everybody.”

The easy comparison for Barkov, at least on the ice, is Patrice Bergeron. There are the Frank J. Selke nominations -- and wins -- as the best defensive forward in the NHL. In fact, on Monday, he was named the winner of the Selke Trophy this season, joining Bergeron, Pavel Datsyuk and Rod Brind'Amour as back-to-back winners in the past quarter-century. He also won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy on Monday for leadership and contribution in the community.

There is the offensively dynamic, defensively responsible, 200-foot center game. There is the ability to lead a team to multiple Stanley Cup Finals.

But when Maurice is asked about the ways in which Barkov impacts a team and a room, the ways in which he is directly responsible for the actions and emotions of the players within a dressing room, he reached for a different Boston Bruins captain to explain his own.

He met Zdeno Chara only briefly, when he was an assistant coach with Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, but the defenseman made an impression.

“We got out on the ice, he asked me to pass him some pucks, which is something I never do. Like I never do that. And passed him some pucks and he thanked me like 12 times,” Maurice recalled. “It was a really unusual interaction. … That’s exactly what I’m talking about, very similar, very humble. And it’s real. What’s that great line? Don’t be so humble, you’re not that [great]. It’s completely genuine.”

Brad Marchand, who played under Chara’s leadership for 11 seasons before Bergeron took over and then Marchand himself, agreed.

“When 'Zee' would speak, it would hold a tremendous amount of weight because he wasn’t speaking all the time, so guys would really listen,” Marchand said. “Which is what 'Barky' does. He takes over in games and he seems to show up in the big moments and does all the right things and plays the proper way.

“And then when he uses his voice in the room or on the bench, it just carries a lot of weight and guys really hang on every word, and that was kind of how 'Zee' was.”

And although Barkov is, unequivocally himself, there are bits and pieces of others sprinkled in, including Jaromir Jagr, who arrived to the Panthers during the 2014-15 season, Barkov’s second in the NHL, and who demonstrated the work ethic the center would adopt.

“A lot. I took a lot,” Barkov said. “I don’t think I ever tried to wake up at 3 a.m. to go and work out. I don’t think I’ll be able to do that. But just the dedication and how much he loved hockey and how much he wanted to become better at age 42 or 43. I don’t know if it’s even possible, but he wanted to become better.”

Ultimately, though, the reason Barkov is here, on this team, in this sport, is his father, Alexander. Alexander Barkov played hockey for many years, starting with SKA Novosibirsk in Russia before moving to Italy and then Finland and Tappara, where he played for 10 seasons before retiring and starting to coach juniors.

It was in Finland that his son was born, in a place where the outdoor rinks are a quick walk away, available as soon as winter fell. And in Finland, winter comes early, a season that spans November to April.

“He was always there for me. He was at my practices, outdoor rinks whenever I went,” Barkov said. “He’s a huge part of where I am right now.”

He had spent his younger years in those locker rooms, in those hallowed spaces, learning.

“I probably just fell in love with hockey more and more,” Barkov said. “That’s the thing, you know every single player. The more you know about hockey, the more you love hockey. I knew every single player that played for that team, for the League, in the League.”

His father’s current team, JHC Spartak (Moscow), won the MHL championship last month, going up 3-0 in their best-of-7 series before watching their opponent, SKA-1946 (St. Petersburg) come back to force a Game 7. Just like the Oilers did last season.

And just like the Panthers did in 2024, JHC Spartak held on to win.

“The exact same as us last year,” Barkov said. “I saw it coming, too. Because he said they’re up 3-0 and he was like, the other team is so, so good, they’re playing so well. … I just saw it coming. They’re so nervous and the other team has nothing to lose. But then, I knew at 3-3, it’s going to even up. Now the other team has the little nerves, too. Then, Game 7, anyone can win.”

It’s what Barkov hopes to do again this season, though perhaps without the drama. It’s what he had been dreaming about since he arrived in the NHL, since he became captain, since he started creating the environment that he wanted to play in.

Since his belief in being himself allowed everyone else to believe it, too.

Still, though, there are limits.

He is asked, if he doesn’t get up at 3 a.m. like Jagr, what time does he get up. And there it is, amidst the understated way he talks, the way he deflects praise and attention, that wickedly funny side that Maurice mentioned. The way he can make his few words count.

“Seven? Eight?” Barkov hazards. “I am a normal human being, yeah.”