SUNRISE, Fla. - The National Hockey League and Leijonat announced today that Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov has been named the captain of Team Finland at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off.
Barkov, 29, will don the captain’s ‘C’ for the first time on the international stage. His prior international experience representing his home country includes a bronze medal at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and a silver medal at the 2016 IIHF World Championships.
The 6-foot-3, 214-pound center from Tampere, Finland was named the 10th captain in Panthers franchise history on Sept. 17, 2018. One of nine active captains who have led their teams for seven or more NHL seasons, Barkov is behind only Mikko Koivu with Minnesota (12 straight seasons from 2008-09 to 2019-20) and Saku Koivu with the Canadiens (nine straight seasons from 1999-00 to 2008-09) for longest tenured Finnish-born captain in NHL history. He became the first Finnish-born captain in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup when the Cats defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2024.
On Jan. 16, 2025, Barkov became the first ice hockey player to be awarded the ‘Vuoden Urheilija’ as ‘Athlete of the Year’, an award voted on annually since 1947 by the Finnish Sports Journalists’ Association at the Finnish Sports Gala in Helsinki. He also won ‘Best Moment of the Year’ for becoming the first Finnish-born captain to raise the Stanley Cup.
Check out FloridaPanthers.com/4Nations for up-to-date coverage of the Cats at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off. Finland’s team at the tournament includes Panthers forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, defenseman Niko Mikkola and assistant coach Tuomo Ruutu.
Catch your Florida Panthers in action this season! 2024-25 single game tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at SeatGeek.com or at Amerant Bank Arena Box Office (Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Fans can learn more about ticketing options and join the waitlist for future Florida Panthers Territory Memberships by visiting FloridaPanthers.com/tickets or by calling the PUCK line (954.835.PUCK).
About the 4 Nations Face-Off
The 4 Nations Face-Off is an international tournament staged by the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), featuring NHL players representing Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States facing off in a total of seven games played from Feb. 12 to 20, 2025. Four games will be played at the Bell Centre in Montreal and three games, including the championship game, at TD Garden in Boston. Tickets for all 4 Nations Face-Off games are available for purchase via Ticketmaster.com, the official ticketing partner of the 4 Nations Face-Off, on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last. Ticketmaster is the only official marketplace of the 4 Nations Face-Off, providing fans with the peace of mind in knowing the seats they buy on Ticketmaster.com and the Ticketmaster app are the seats they’ll get. The 4 Nations Face-Off will be broadcast exclusively in North America by The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC), TNT Sports, Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
All games in the 4 Nations Face-Off will be played in accordance with NHL rules. Each team will play three tournament games in a traditional Round Robin format, under the following points system: 3 points for a win in regulation time; 2 points for a win in overtime/shootout; 1 point for a loss in overtime/shootout; and 0 points for a loss in regulation time. The two teams with the best tournament record will then advance to a one-game Final. For more information, visit https://nhl.com/4nations.