‘Playing physical helps’: How Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov has added some bite to his game

Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov is known for many things.

His hockey IQ. His otherworldly passing and shooting. His shutdown defense and willingness to compete for pucks. His tireless work ethic. All of these traits have laid the foundation for him being one of the top two-way centers in the NHL and the face of the Panthers franchise as he nears the end of his 11th NHL season. It also has him on the cusp of being just the second player from the 2013 draft class to have 700 career points.

But his physicality — at least in the sense of bruising hits or full-on body checks? Not the first thing that comes to mind when talking about Barkov.

Make no mistake about it, though: The man the Panthers call “Barky” has added some bite to his game, providing yet another facet that opponents have to worry about on top of everything else he already does so well on the ice.

It’s the latest evolution of one of hockey’s best players and a potentially critical element the NHL-leading Panthers are hoping makes a difference as they continue their push toward the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

“The way we’re playing, you need to be a little more physical,” Barkov said. “It’s a physical game. We want to play hard and that comes with physicality as well. Obviously our systems, coach and everyone here focuses on it. ... Playing physical helps.”

‘The umbrella of the entire program’

Barkov’s increased edge is part of a two-way street of improvement between him and his teammates.

Under coach Paul Maurice, the Panthers have employed a gritty, defensive-first style of play. That fits Barkov’s game perfectly and made him the example for the rest of Florida’s forwards to follow.

The results have come from that. The Panthers’ all-hands-on-deck defensive approach has them allowing the fewest goals per game (2.35) and tied for the second-fewest shots against per game (27.7) entering Thursday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. That’s a big reason the Panthers are atop the NHL standings with about a month left in the regular season. Florida enters Thursday with a 45-17-4 record. Their 94 points are two ahead of the Vancouver Canucks (42-17-8, 92 points) and three ahead of the Boston Bruins (38-14-15, 91 points), both of whom have played one more game than Florida.

In addition to that, the Panthers have brought in several hard-nosed, in-your-face players over the past few years — forwards Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, to name two — to up the team’s toughness.

Their presence, Maurice contends, has rubbed off on Barkov as well, and it has only helped him for the better.

“I think there’s been some give and take there,” Maurice said. “There’s an honesty in Barkov’s game that is the umbrella of the entire program. Everybody works hard in the summer. Everybody gets to the rink early. Everybody treats the support staff with incredible respect — and I consider myself part of that support staff, people in suits. It’s a fine group of men and I think he and Matthew are the head of that in terms of style. He’s also throwing more hits now than he ever has, and that is a part of the rest of the guys wearing off on him. We’ve brought in some pretty competitive men. Sam Bennett is a competitive guy. Matthew comes in. We brought some energy into the team and he’s kind of morphed into that, too.”

Entering Thursday, Barkov already had a career-high 86 hits through 60 games played this season. His previous high before that? Just 52, set last season. He also has a career-high 20 penalty minutes, but Barkov quickly brushed aside that stat as a data point for his physicality.

“The penalty minutes come from tripping and hooking,” Barkov said. “I’m not boarding anyone or anything like that.”

Added Maurice: “We’re not trying to turn Barky into a killer.”

But they are embracing his willingness to be a little rougher around the edges. With his size (6-3 and 215 pounds), speed and mind, Barkov has always been a mismatch for just about any opponent he faces.

Now, just by showing the willingness to turn the intensity up a notch, he’s giving them even more to think about each night.

“He’s a really big guy and skates so well,” Tkachuk said. “When he’s physical, it’s a big man coming after you. I wouldn’t say he’s more physical than what he was before. He’s always been that being dominant guy, but when he throws the body, guys feel it a lot.’

“You never have a comfortable game against him,” Tkachuk added. “When he doesn’t have the puck, he gets it right back or is in the right position. And now especially, adding some physicality just kind of fits right into his game. He’s getting the puck away more and when he doesn’t, he’s able to either finish a guy to get it or strip it away to get it.”

Stays true to himself

What’s most impressive and arguably most important about all this is Barkov isn’t sacrificing other parts of his game to get to this level.

Barkov enters Thursday with 66 points (18 goals, 48 assists). He’s two goals away from his ninth consecutive season with at least 20 goals and two assists away from his fourth 50-assist season.

He is an anchor on both the power play and penalty kill and finds ways to amplify whoever is on the ice with him at any given moment.

It’s what got Barkov to this point in his career. It’s what has him as the Panthers’ franchise leader in basically every major category, including games played (724), points (697), goals (261), assists (436), power-play goals (75) power-play points (214) and game-winning goals (48). He’s a two-time All-Star and two-time NHL Award recipient, winning the Lady Byng Trophy (most productive player while taking minimal penalties) in 2019 and the Selke Trophy (best two-way forward) in 2021.

“We’re spoiled,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “You reach the point where you don’t even think about how good Sasha is. I’ll say that I probably took it for granted.”

And now, more than a decade into his NHL career, Barkov is still finding ways to take his already top-notch game to another level.

“When you bring something new to your games, it always helps helps you achieve that next level,” Barkov said. “You want to try and keep the key things that you’re doing well, really strong and then if you’re able to try to try to get some new things in your game, I’m always that type of guy who tries to always work on some new things. I’m really excited about that.”