Starting on the offensive side of the puck, the 25-year-old center produced at well better than a point-per-game clip for the second time in his past three seasons, finishing second on the team in scoring with 58 points in 50 games, including filling up the net with a team-leading 26 goals.
Becoming the only player in franchise history to register six consecutive 50-point and 20-goal seasons, he also led the team in even-strength goals (18), even-strength points (38) and shots on goal (176), while sitting second in assists (32), power-play goals (7), power-play points (19).
Catching fire in the second half, he closed out the regular season with 18 goals in 25 games.
"He's always impressed me, but this year he's just stepped it up and is on another level right now," said Panthers winger Jonathan Huberdeau, a teammate of Barkov's for the past eight seasons. "One-on-one, he wins his battle every time. I wouldn't want to play against him."
On defense, Barkov's exceptional play earned him some well-deserved hardware.
After building up a reputation as one of the top two-way players in the game over the past several seasons, the PHWA finally took notice by voting him as this season's winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy, which is given annually to the best defensive forward in the league.
Beating out Boston's Patrice Bergeron and Vegas' Mark Stone for the award, Barkov essentially dominated the voting, earning 62 out of 100 first-place votes and racking up 780 voting points.
"It feels unbelievable," Barkov said after winning the award. "This is one of the biggest honors I've had in my life and in my hockey career. Obviously, it's a team sport. It would have never been possible without my teammates, coaches, trainers, GM and everyone in our organization."
Helping the Panthers achieve their lowest goals-against average (2.70) since 2015-16, Barkov ranked ninth among NHL forwards in average ice time per game (20:56) and 10th in total face-offs (1,026), while also posting a career-high 54.9% winning percentage in the dot this season.
Making passing lanes disappear, he also accumulated a team-leading 39 takeaways.
As for his strong possession numbers, check out the "Cool Stat" section later in this article.
"I've played against him," Panthers forward Noel Acciari said. "I was one of the lines that tried to shut him down. It's very, very hard to do. Not many people can do it, if any. Joining him and seeing his work ethic and what does to get ready for games, he's an unbelievable player."
Making his third-career trip to the postseason, Barkov also produced during the playoffs. In six games against the cross-state rival Lightning, he recorded seven points (one goal, six assists), won 52.9% of his faceoffs, and finished the series with a stalwart 60.56 CF% at 5-on-5 play.
Looking ahead, it'll be exciting to see what heights Barkov and the Panthers reach in 2021-22.
"I think we took a huge step forward with the organization, with the team in the right direction," Barkov said. "We played really good hockey over almost every game in the season, even in the playoffs we played good hockey, but just couldn't come up with the wins that we needed. [It was a] huge step forward, but we're not satisfied, we're not done. This is just the beginning."