Barkov's Mailbag: All-Star Weekend; How Good is Huberdeau?

Throughout the entire 2017-18 season, Florida Panthers star center Aleksander "Sasha" Barkov will be answering all of your questions about life on and off the ice in his monthly mailbag for FloridaPanthers.com.
Have a question you want answered? Tweet them using #BarkysBag!

@JustC0w: What was your first reaction when you heard you were going to the All-Star Game?
BARKOV: I was happy. It's a big honor for me to be there and represent Florida. Of course, there's a lot of other players that should have been there, too. But I feel happy and proud.

@Thortys_Shorty: Who are you most excited to play with at the All-Star Game?
BARKOV: Everybody who's there. I feel like there's a lot of good players in the whole thing. It's going to be exciting to play with them and against them. To be able to watch them play and play with them, I'm going to learn something. It's going to be lots of fun.
@Ghosteface: Who are you most excited just to talk to at the All-Star Game?
BARKOV: I'll probably talk the most to my team, the Atlantic Division. But I know there's one Finnish goalie, Pekka Rinne, that'll be there. We'll probably talk a little bit. It's also going to be exciting to see guys like Auston Matthews that close. I got lucky that he's going to be on my side, so I don't have to play against him.
@whyangiewhy: How good is Jonathan Huberdeau?
BARKOV:He's the best. He's very underrated in this league. He can make plays that nobody else can do. He sees the ice pretty well and he's a really special player. I'm lucky to play with him on the same line. He's a great guy, too. We can talk. I don't know if we always understand each other, but we still can talk. His English has improved a little bit over the years. Of course, as a player, he takes steps forward all the time. You see him at the gym all the time. He works on his game, shot, everything. He's a really good player to play with.

(HF) Little Bobby Boo: Do you have a favorite muscle group to work out?
BARKOV: I used to do a lot of squats, but I cut them down a little bit because of my back. I like squats, overall, because they're just good for everything.
(HF) Shootit: How do you feel about the added responsibility of playing so many minutes this season?
BARKOV: For me, it's just a lot of fun to play a lot and try to help the team as much as I can. Of course, when you play a lot you've got to maintain your workouts and stuff like that. You've got to rest a lot and try to stay in shape. I don't really care about the stat that much, but it's good to see after the game how many shifts I played and what my average shift length was and how much I played, stuff like that. Right now, I don't even know how many minutes I played against Calgary.
@hollissm: Which of the Fast & Furious movies is your favorite?
BARKOV:I kind of like the new ones, but Tokyo Drift was a pretty good one.
(HF) ucanthanzalthetruth: How much time do you spend practicing shootout moves?
BARKOV: I don't know. I just visualize some moves and get some moves from YouTube highlights and stuff like that. I try to practice them in my head first. It's different when I practice by myself than with a goalie, because on an empty net you can score on any kind of shot. But if it works on our goalies, it's probably going to work on everybody else. That's how I practice them.
@jackdpmjd: I'll be in Helsinki for a day on a Baltic cruise this summer. Any favorite restaurants?
BARKOV: In Helsinki? I don't know. They're opening a couple chicken wing spots in Helsinki, but I only know a couple in Tampere. That's about a two-hour drive from Helsinki.
@PTPJacob: What do you think about all the young Finnish prospects coming up in the system?
BARKOV: It's really fun to watch [Henrik] Borgstrom's highlights. Everybody talks only good things about him. He's going to be a really good player for this organization. There's also [Aleksi] Heponiemi putting up pretty good numbers in the CHL. [Sebastian] Repo is playing in the Finnish league, and he's probably going to be here pretty soon. [Henrik] Haapala, [Juho] Lammikko and those guys in Springfield are also very good. We have lots of Finns.

(HF) Bure1096: What changes did you make this offseason that have helped put you on a point-per-game pace?
BARKOV: I worked out a little bit different. I did a lot more conditioning and core stuff. I tried to cut down on heavy lifting more because of my back last year. I feel like I'm lighter, faster and can play a lot more. I don't know. I still try to do the same things I did before, but just add a little bit more new stuff. At the start of the season, I also wasn't shooting that much. Everyone was telling me to shoot more. You can only score if you shoot a lot. Players like [Capitals winger Alex] Ovechkin, he scores 50 goals a year because he shoots 500 times a year. If you want to score, you've got to shoot more. That's the thing. You're not going to score every second shot in this league, of course. I'm a pass-first guy, but you have to change that mindset and try to think about shooting because the game is not that easy anymore. You cannot pass every time.
@rileypie31: What's your favorite hockey memory?
BARKOV:The Olympics is one. Then, of course, coming here and playing my first game here in my first season. I'm just living the dream right now. Every day I get to come and play here is my favorite memory.
@BradleyFrancis_: What did you get Denis Malgin for his 21st birthday?
BARKOV:Oh… I forgot. I'll probably get something tomorrow.