A Chat with Aleksander Barkov

SUNRISE, Fla. - After shaking off a slow start to his 2016-17 campaign, no Florida Panthers skater has been generating more offense than Aleksander Barkov in recent weeks.
After recording just 11 points in his first 20 games, the 21-year-old center has tallied 12 points (4-8-12) in his last 13 games, including three multi-point performances in that span.

"The kid has been one of our best players since he got here," Panthers center Vincent Trocheck said. "Even in the beginning of the year, when he wasn't scoring every game, he was playing great defensively. No matter what, he contributes to the team. Now that he is scoring again, it's not like it's a surprise to us."
With a team-leading 14 assists this season, Barkov is currently tied with Jonathan Marchessault for the team lead in points (20) while also ranking first among Panthers forwards in both shots (74) and game-winning goals (2).
Recently, FloridaPanthers.com's Jameson Olive sat down with Barkov to discuss everything from the relief of shaking off a slump to the importance of bringing video games on a long road trip.
OLIVE: The Panthers currently sitting at 13-13-4 on the season but are still only four points behind the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division. With 52 games left to play, what is the feeling in the locker room right now?
BARKOV: It's not a good thing. We want to win more than this. It's super early, but if we want to make the playoffs we have to start winning games. It doesn't matter how we get those points. We just have to win games.
OLIVE: As for yourself, what do you credit your recent hot streak to?
BARKOV: I scored a couple goals last few games and it feels good, but of course I want to score more and try to get more pucks to the net. The last couple of games I've been shooting a lot more. That's why the pucks are going in, so I want to continue to do that.
OLIVE: An injury to Jonathan Huberdeau late in the preseason has led to several different players lining up on your left side over the past few months, the latest being Seth Griffith. How difficult has this injury-induced line shuffling been to deal with after having played with the same two linemates - Huberdeau and Jaromir Jagr -- nearly every shift last season?
BARKOV: It really doesn't matter who I'm playing with. I've played with Jagr a lot. I don't mind playing with him. He's a great player. I like to play with him. Of course, Griffith is also a great player and he's a fast addition to our line. He's probably faster than me and Jags, so he'll go on the forecheck and get pucks to us. He's pretty skilled and can score, too. I don't mind playing with him.
OLIVE: Speaking of Jagr, he's currently only five points away from passing Mark Messier (1,887) for sole possession of second all-time in NHL points. Is that something that's being discussed among players in the locker room?
BARKOV: We don't really talk about that here, but I think everybody knows that he's pretty close and it might happen pretty soon. Of course it's a really big thing, needing only five points to become second all-time. It's amazing.
OLIVE: How much are you hoping to be involved in that record-setting point?
BARKOV: It really doesn't matter. It would be nice, but it doesn't matter. I hope he's going to get it pretty soon. It's going to be awesome.

OLIVE: Although they don't count toward your own career point total, you've already made a name for yourself as one of the league's premier shootout experts, scoring on 10 of your 23 career attempts, usually in highlight-reel fashion. What makes you so lethal in the skills competition?
BARKOV: I've practiced a lot during the summer. I think I have a lot of moves. I like to shoot sometimes, but I like to deke, too. I try to learn a lot from different players like Patrick Kane and Pavel Datsyuk, the guys that can score nice goals and try to undress goalies and stuff like that. I try to practice that and do it in the game if I'm feeling confident.
OLIVE: From an outside perspective, it looks like confidence is rarely an issue during your shootout attempts. How do you handle that immense pressure when the game is on your stick?
BARKOV: If I'm not playing well during a game and then go to the shootout, sometimes my hands don't feel confident. In that case, I'm probably going to shoot it. I've been doing shootouts since juniors in Finland. I feel confident because I think I've already had like 100 shootouts in my career.
OLIVE: Looking around the locker room, who are the other top shootout guys on the Panthers in your opinion?
BARKOV: Shawn Thornton is pretty good. I hope he's going to get a chance to do it in a game. Vincent Trocheck and Nick Bjugstad are also great. Jonathan Huberdeau isn't playing, but he's great. I try to learn from them, too. I think we're a pretty good shootout team. We have a lot of good guys.
OLIVE: The team has spent a lot of time on the road in recent weeks. How do you spend your downtime on long road trips?
BARKOV: I brought my PlayStation with me on our last trip. I played a lot. I also just like to go to dinner, practice and relax. That's all I do. We'll be going to Winnipeg on this trip, and I know Patrik Laine pretty well, so I'll maybe spend time with him a little bit and go for dinner or something. But otherwise I'll just relax and be with the team.
OLIVE: I've heard that Denis Malgin plays video games with you.
BARKOV: Yeah. He's not that good, but I just need somebody to play with me.
OLIVE: Do you ever play with other young Finns like Laine?
BARKOV: I think they have a different platform. They have XBOX and I have PlayStation. It's a different world.