Florida Panthers: Replacements for Jussi Jokinen as assistant captain
By Luke Kendall
Aleksander Barkov
Florida doesn’t have to give the letter to the most experienced player. After all, the other alternate captain, Aaron Ekblad, is only 21-years-old. They could choose the young face of their franchise, Aleksander Barkov, to replace Jokinen. The Panthers have Barkov locked up with a six-year, 35 million dollar contract. A first line center, Barkov is an integral part of the Florida Panthers. He scored 52 points (21 G, 31A) despite only playing in 61 games.
His youth might cause some fans to forget that his four years make him one of the longer tenured players on the team. One thing that doesn’t help Aleksander’s case for alternate captain is his history of injuries. He has never played more than 71 games in a season during his career thus far.