Florida Panthers: Aleksander Barkov Experiences Second Year of Captaincy in 2019-20

In his second year of captaincy with the Florida Panthers, forward Aleksander Barkov went through some highs and lows during the 2019-20 season.

A lot lies on the shoulders of Aleksander Barkov. Being the Florida Panthers’ most complete and talented individual comes with heavy responsibilities – as it would on any other NHL team. Luckily for Florida, Barkov manages it with pride, and never backs down when the going gets tough.

This past season has been a little bit of a rollercoaster ride for the Finnish superstar. In 66 games, Barkov tallied 20G, 41A, for 62 points. If you take a look at his stat line more closely, you’ll see that his PPG figure of 0.94 was a drop-off compared to last year’s figure (1.17) where Barkov put up 96 points (35G & 61A) in a full 82-game season.

Of course, the shortening of the season due to the Coronavirus outbreak certainly didn’t help his case. But it’s important to note that Barkov went stretches of periods where he failed to record a single point, like in his last six games.

Head coach Joel Quenneville wasn’t hesitant to break up the lines where he saw fit, even separating Barkov from his partner in crime, Jonathan Huberdeau, placing the two on completely separate units.

In the beginning, it would often create a spark – at least for one line – but after an extended period of time, the lines would become dull and the chemistry would instantly fade. That was then a sign for Quenneville to put the two back together, with hopes that their play would immediately kickstart the moment they were back on each other’s line.

Barkov’s defensive numbers have also dipped in comparison to previous years, but that’s been a byproduct of his team’s poor defensive display, rather than his own individually. For Barkov, much of that is out of his control and will only change until the Panthers’ D core is rebuilt entirely.

Heading into the qualifying round, Barkov will have the opportunity to regain his form and steer this ship in the right direction. Much of the pressure lies on Barkov’s shoulders (and rightfully so), but if No. 16 can come out firing away on all cylinders, the Panthers should have a chance at advancing over the pesky New York Islanders.

The 2019-20 regular season was by no means a bad one for Barkov, but it certainly wasn’t a memorable one, either. Now with hockey eventually resuming play and the Panthers guaranteed a spot in the play-in series, Barkov has every chance to not only regain the form that he previously lost but navigate the Panthers through uncharted waters.

It’s up to Barkov on which version of himself will show up once the hiatus is over, but my gut is telling me that a healthy and rejuvenated Barkov is just what the doctor ordered for the upcoming play-in series.

Not only does Sasha need his top form back, but the Cats need their captain’s direction and leadership to weather this storm they are about to encounter.