Barkov sets standard for Panthers' ego-free dressing room

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Take a look at the Florida Panthers roster and you see the superstar names.

Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Brad Marchand, Sergei Bobrovsky. All Stanley Cup winners, all likely headed to the Hockey Hall of Fame one day.

But go inside Florida's locker room, and it's impossible to tell the star players and the role players apart.

Everyone is treated equally, everyone is pulling the same weight, everyone is expected to do the job.

It's just another reason the Panthers won the Stanley Cup last season and are chasing it again this season, leading the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in the Eastern Conference Final, with Game 2 at Lenovo Center on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Coach Paul Maurice didn't hesitate when asked who created that atmosphere.

"I think that's all Barkov," Maurice said Wednesday, the morning after Florida's 5-2 win in Game 1. "Truly, if you didn't know the face, if you walked into that locker room, or walked on the airplane, or watched him, you couldn't tell who the star was."

Barkov has been Panthers captain since Sept. 17, 2018. In addition to becoming the first Finland-born captain to lead his team to the Cup last season, he's won the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL twice (2021, 2024) and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, which is awarded for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct (2019). He also was captain for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

But there is no ego, no pecking order when it comes to getting the job done.

"And Matthew's like that too, and Brad, and some of the older guys, some of the guys who make the media and I understand why they do," Maurice said. "They're one of the guys in the room, but I think it's all Barkov."

As an example, Maurice pointed to the preseason, when the Panthers had to open their schedule with two split-squad games at the Nashville Predators. It was all hands on deck and everyone knew it.

"Everybody plays," Maurice said. "Bobrovsky plays in that game, Barkov plays in that game. They all play. Everybody has to take a bite out of the sandwich that you don't like. You know what I'm talking about. Everybody has to take a bite of that sandwich. Nobody likes it. So they do that for each other."

Just ask A.J. Greer, who signed with Panthers as a free agent July 1, 2024, after bouncing around the NHL since the 2016-17 season with the Colorado Avalanche, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames.

A forward on the Panthers' fourth line, he averaged 9:36 of ice time per game during the regular season and is at 7:18 in nine games during the playoffs. But there he was in Game 1 on Tuesday, scoring a goal at 3:33 of the second period to give Florida a 3-1 lead, seemingly sapping a lot of the energy from the Hurricanes and their home crowd.

"The leadership group, the way that everyone kind of does their day-to-day stuff and the vibe around the locker room, like, no one's better than anyone," Greer said after Game 1. "It's just the way that guys do certain things.

"You kind of mesh into the locker room as a new guy, you kind of come into the footsteps of guys like 'Barky,' [Sam Reinhart], [Gustav Forsling], [Aaron] Ekblad, you know, guys that are Panthers legends. So being able to do the same that they do shows the commitment, shows the energy, and willingness to win."

The approach also keeps everyone ready to go when called upon, Jonah Gadjovich said.

The forward played 42 games during the regular season and didn’t come into the lineup this postseason until Game 3 of the second round against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

But like Greer, he had a hand in the Game 1 win, passing the puck to Tomas Nosek in the defensive zone to help start the rush that led to Greer's goal.

"I love all the guys in this group, and you have to check your ego aside," Gadjovich said. "Obviously I want to play the whole time, every game, but if I were to get called on and I wasn't ready, that's on me.

"We're treated just like any other guy in the lineup, even though we weren't in the lineup. It's such a tight group, top to bottom. We have a lot of fun doing what we do."

Ekblad, the second-longest tenured Panthers player behind Barkov, said the approach is "the way it should be."

"We're a team right? We're all in it together, and we treat everyone the same," the defenseman said. "And it's worked for us."

And it's certainly working for Maurice.

"I haven't had a guy come in in three years and ask about ice time," he said. "So, it's not just that they like each other, it's the way they treat each other."