Florida Panthers: Top Candidates for the 2019 All-Star Game

Player #1: Aleksander Barkov, Center

Aleksander Barkov was last season’s Panthers all-star, leading the team in points, assists, and shorthanded goals. One year has passed, and the Finn has one more year of experience, game time, and filthy backhanders.

Barkov was amongst the NHL’s top 20 centers via NHL Network and the NHL Network fan vote this past season, so the attention is already there:

It’s whether Barkov can produce similarly to last season, where he dropped 51 assists, 10 special teams goals, and a career high in goals at 27. All this said, he’s still only 22, and will be 23 at the beginning of the Panthers’ season in October.

These numbers are amongst the NHL’s elite, ranking above John Tavares, Patrice Bergeron, and Jack Eichel in assists. He led the NHL in shorthanded goals with 5 and is highly regarded as one of the best penalty killers in the league.

Barkov is perfectly made for the All-Star Game and showcased his moves in last year’s event in Tampa Bay in the Shootout Streak, where he used backhanders and dekes to impress the media and the fans watching.

He ended Marc-Andre Fleury’s streak of 13 saves, which wound up winning the competition with a signature Forsberg move:

Player #2: Vincent Trocheck, Center

Vincent Trocheck, the all-star representative from 2017, has done nothing but grow since improving as a player. Trocheck was selected for the All-Star Game on an injury-ridden Panthers team missing Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Aaron Ekblad.

He scored 23 goals with 31 assists that season, which boomed his production this past season with 31 goals and 44 assists, respective career highs.

The 25-year old grew to become one of the better centers in the Atlantic this past season, competing with the likes of David Krejci, Brayden Point, and Nazem Kadri as he tried to establish himself as one of the best second line centers in the NHL.

What makes Trocheck as talented as he is, is his explosiveness up the ice as well as his Scrappy-Doo mentality to go up against the trees like Zdeno Chara along the boards. He’s one of the toughest players on the Panthers team, and he’s a nightmare to mark against.

His goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Panthers’ 6-5 win this season on the first goal gives a good reference to the speed and power he has.

He’s also developed the ability to carry the puck himself, as his double against the Arizona Coyotes was all on him, leading the Panthers back from 2-0 down to a 4-2 victory:

Trocheck’s previous all-star showing was nothing incredible, not winning a single contest or recording any points in the Atlantic’s loss to the Metropolitan division. Getting to another California all-star event should be near the top of Vincent Trocheck’s goals this season.

Player #3: Evgeni Dadonov, Right Wing

A darkhorse candidate, Evgeni Dadonov was massively underlooked by not just the NHL, but even Panther fans as a whole.

Returning from the KHL after a six-season stint, Dadonov was brilliant in his return to Florida, scoring 65 points in just 74 games, 9 points under the point-per-game mark. While the KHL is a very challenging league, it was stunning to see Dadonov, who had just 27 points in three prior seasons in Florida, return like this.

It’s not just because he played with Aleksander Barkov either, while the two linked up very well over the course of last season, it was Dadonov’s mixed bag of all-star level talent that got him near the top.

His creativity to feed targets like Nick Bjugstad and Barkov, while being able to create as many opportunities as he did, truly marked his return.

For one, his vision fetched him a lot of assists, the second most for a Panthers winger, only behind Jonathan Huberdeau’s 38. Dadonov has the capability to unleash some ridiculous passes, including this one in his home return against the Tampa Bay Lightning, setting up future linemate Nick Bjugstad:

Dadonov gets the puck behind his own blue line, looks up, spots the line change, and in an instant, flings the pass straight to Bjugstad, who kicks it into high gear. 

Bjugstad, with a teammate in support, takes it on himself and beats Andrei Vasilevskiy to level the score in the early second. It’s this kind of lightning-fast thinking that got Dadonov back to the top, delivering 37 more assists during the season.

To be an all-star, most players should have a signature skill to catch the eyes of the NHL fans over social media to win over votes. Fortunately for Dadonov, he has this move, and it’s worked multiple times.

Evgeni Dadonov’s over-the-shoulder fake has been used for a decent amount of goals over the past season, most notably seen against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The move is simple, Dadonov carries the puck into the zone and will realize that he’s either one-on-one with a defender or even one-on-two.

Dadonov looks over his shoulder, knowing a teammate isn’t coming but can change the defenseman’s perception of what he’s trying to do; rather than drive towards goal, it looks as though Dadonov is waiting for support.

Before they can react, Dadonov rips a wrist shot past the defenseman and the goalie, with neither being able to react to the shot:

Dadonov has been nowhere near all-star status prior to this year, as said, he had 20 points in 55 games stretching across 2009-2011 before departing for Russia.

Now, expectations of an all-star aren’t completely out of reach. So long as the Panthers play well, he can easily shoot for one of the three wild-card spots in the Atlantic.

Player #4: Mike Hoffman, Left Wing

Mike Hoffman has consistently done his job for the Ottawa Senators; scoring 20+ goals in the past four seasons, recording upper 50 or lower 60 points, and getting open for centers to provide him with shots.

That, however, was in Ottawa, who made the playoffs once in the four seasons of Hoffman’s best years, and with that, Hoffman was mismanaged. He was playing behind the seemingly ageless Bobby Ryan, preventing him from playing with Kyle Turris or Matt Duchene.

After some ‘acts’ by his fiancée over social media, Mike landed in Florida, with Ottawa trading him to San Jose to get rid of his contract, and the Sharks immediately flipping him to Florida for some needed draft picks.

What a lot of the NHL might not expect is that Hoffman may be back in San Jose this season, for the 2019 All-Star weekend. He’s been written off before by the media and fans for being one-dimensional, but this one dimension is something that the Panthers seriously lack.

Hoffman plays a similar role to Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, both on the power play and during even strength. Rather than Ovi’s Office, I’d prefer to call it ‘Hoffy’s Headquarters’ (*trademark pending*), right inside the faceoff dot on the right side while the puck is moved from point-to-point.

While this one didn’t come on the power play, it comes on one of his faceoff dot bullets that hopefully will be seen in plenty for the Panthers.

Hoffman gives it to Duchene, then reads the defensive setup that the Dallas Stars are in, seeing John Klingberg is rooted to the slot to prevent any shots from Duchene getting through to Ben Bishop.

Hoffman bumps off and creates space for Duchene to slide the puck towards him, and blasts it past Bishop, while off-balanced.

Mike hasn’t played a game for the Panthers yet, but he already has the best slapshot out of any forward by far. The power play is something that the Panthers have struggled with over the past four or five seasons, with no true player being able to materialize anything on the power play other than maybe Keith Yandle this past season.

Hoffman gives the Panthers a legit weapon on the man advantage, capable of ripping some absolute lasers from the point or from the right flank, which can give the PP the edge its been lacking for so long.

Again, marketability for an all-star is very important, and to have his shots go in from improbable angles is something that catches the eyes of many.

His kind of sheer talent to shoot the puck is perfect for all-star events like the Slapshot Challenge, as well as in the games, as Jack Eichel and P.K. Subban have used in past events. Feed Hoffman the puck in his spot and he could be fed a weekend in San Jose this coming season.

Player #5: Aaron Ekblad, Defenseman

The Panthers’ defense may not be the best in the division, but the top pair is definitely capable of producing an all-star. As he continues to grow with experience, this is a big year for Aaron Ekblad which could turn out to be a critical stepping stone in his career.

The Canadian defenseman needed a good bounce-back from 2016-17, which he put up career lows in goals, points, and +/-, all the way down to -23.

Ekblad put up 38 points the following season (2017-18), just one shy of tying his career high of 39. His +9 rating was ranked his third best +/- out of his four seasons as a Panther. While these numbers are solid, these aren’t the kind of numbers expected from a former first overall pick, 22 or not.

Aaron finished behind defensemen like Ivan Provorov of the Philadelphia Flyers and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets in offensive production.

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Ekblad’s time with Keith Yandle as his defensive partner is concerning for his career numbers, showing obvious drop-offs from when Ekblad was playing with Brian Campbell and Willie Mitchell.

It’s not entirely Ekblad’s fault, as Yandle grew a lot in offensive influence behind Bob Boughner. The former New York Ranger outscored Ekblad’s point tally last season, and while Ekblad’s defensive responsibilities are growing, it may be best to split the two up this season.

Ekblad’s numbers in 2016 were below his numbers from this past season, however thanks to the Panthers surprising the world of hockey, Aaron was given the credit of the team’s strong defensive presence.

This isn’t taking anything away from Ekblad’s offensive ability, as being able to put up just under 40 points in three out of his for four seasons for the Panthers is still pretty good.

The question marks of a first overall pick not living up to his potential yet will cloud over his head, but if he picks up off the doubters and records career highs in points and goals, no doubt Aaron Ekblad will make the long flight to San Jose.