Panthers: Aleksander Barkov breaks franchise goal record

Aleksander Barkov scored his eighth goal of the 2021-22 regular season last night against the New Jersey Devils. Eight goals in 12 games is certainly impressive, but this specific one carried a plethora of weight for another reason. With it, Barkov is now the all-time leader in goals for the Florida Panthers with 189. He has officially passed former captain and fan favorite Olli Jokinen.

What is so impressive about this is the fact that Barkov is only in the beginning stages of his ninth NHL season. As a result of this, the 26-year-old has so much time to increase his record from here. In early October, he signed an eight-year, $80 million contract extension with the Panthers. It doesn’t even kick in until next season as well, so he has another nine years left with the franchise.

The Panthers absolutely made the right call extending him, of course. He’s their captain and best all-around player. He not only has become a dominant offensive player in this league, but also is elite defensively. He won his first Selke Trophy last season and has all the tools to win many more from here. With this, he’s the type of star every team wants to build around. Therefore, they were wise to avoid the risk of losing him to unrestricted free agency.

When Barkov was selected second overall by the Panthers back in 2013, it’s fair to say they had high expectations for him. Draft picks taken that early are often expected to be important pieces of a franchise. Yet, even with this being the case, one could argue that Barkov is even better than the Panthers could have imagined back then.

To reach 189 career goals, it took Barkov 541 career games. When it comes to Jokinen, he scored his 188 in 567 games. Thus, Jokinen was a very good player during his prime, too. However, he would end up being traded the Phoenix Coyotes after his seventh season with the team.

Alas, this is a very big moment in the history of the Florida Panthers. It will be fun to see what else Barkov achieves during his time in a Panthers sweater.