Aleksander Barkov is not the highest-profile Florida Panther — that would be Matthew Tkachuk.
He is not the highest-scoring Florida Panther — that would be Sam Reinhart.
And he is not one of the former Rangers now playing for the Florida Panthers — those would be Vladimir Tarasenko and Nikko Mikkola.
But Barkov might well be the hardest matchup for Rangers coach Peter Laviolette to navigate in this Eastern Conference Final thanks to his two-way ability, which was officially christened the best in the league among forwards when the Finn won his second Selke Trophy on Saturday.
“We understand that he’s a really good player,” Laviolette said ahead of Wednesday’s Game 1. “I think we’re gonna have to play well against the Florida Panthers, certainly him and what he brings to the table, his size and ability both offensively and defensively.”
Florida’s top line — which features Barkov centering Tarasenko and Reinhart, another forward who received Selke votes — figures to match up against whichever line Panthers coach Paul Maurice deems most dangerous for the Rangers at any given point in the series.
In the second round, that meant a heavy load of minutes against Bruins star David Pastrnak.
When Barkov was on the ice with Pastrnak, the Panthers produced 62.86 percent of shots throughout the series, per Natural Stat Trick.
When Pastrnak got away from the matchup, that number dropped to 46.67 percent.
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That’s the sort of impact the 28-year-old can have on a series.
“What’s great about Barkov is that he didn’t settle on a game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “He didn’t decide at 26, ‘This is who I am as a player and there’s no need to really add anything. I don’t really need to improve.’ He’s a constant.
“Improvement isn’t just these five things I’m good at, I get better at. Great improvement is, these five things are my core and I can add these two and I become a different player, a more well-rounded player. He’s more physical, he’s just faster. He’s always been conscientious defensively. It’s the Selke. He’s more dynamic, I think, offensively as well.”
Surely, as Barkov’s résumé includes an 80-point regular season.
“It’s gonna be a big challenge,” Barkov said of facing the Rangers. “They have a lot of good offensive players. Overall good lineup. It’s gonna be a big challenge for us. I think we’re ready for that.”
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