Panthers' stars receive recognition during 2023 NHL Awards

NASHVILLE -- The Florida Panthers received plenty of respect during the 2023 NHL Awards.

Despite not taking home any hardware during the festivities on Monday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville -- although general manager Bill Zito has a great shot at winning GM of the Year on Wednesday -- the Panthers garnered plenty of votes for several of the NHL's top accolades.

First, Aleksander Barkov finished eighth in voting for the Selke Trophy.

Despite having to miss 13 games due to injuries and illness, the two-way superstar still led the Panthers in takeaways (56), faceoff win percentage (54.9%) and faceoff wins (731). Incredibly, he finished with 306 more faceoff wins than the second-best player on the club's leaderboard.

Leading by example as he always does, the Panthers controlled 56.88% of all shot attempts, 56.49% of all scoring chances and 56.99% of all goals when Barkov was on the ice at 5-on-5, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

On the penalty kill, he ranked third among the team's forward in shorthanded minutes (143:11).

A perennial contender for the Selke Trophy, Barkov, who won the award in 2020-21, has now finished eighth or better in voting in six of the last eight seasons. Getting some of his usual love from voters this season, he received 10 votes for second place and seven votes for third place.

Not done there, Barkov also finished seventh in voting for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, which is given annually "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

In addition to his aforementioned all-world defense, Barkov, who took home the Lady Byng in 2018-19, racked up 78 points (23 goals, 55 assists) while accruing just eight penalty minutes in 68 games.

Looking at the blue line, the Panthers received some more love from voters when Brandon Montour was rewarded for his breakout season with a 12th-place finish for the Norris Trophy.

Nearly doubling his previous career-high point total, Montour finished tied for fifth among NHL defensemen in points (73), third in power-play points (33) and fourth in shots on goal (242).

Setting a new franchise record for most points in a season by a defenseman, Montour pieced together a career-long 10-game point streak from Jan. 14 through Feb. 6. A workhorse on the back end, he also averaged a team-leading 24:08 of ice time per game throughout the season.

Last but certainly not least, Matthew Tkachuk, who arguably won the red carpet in his incredible blue suit and wayfarer shades, ended up finishing third in voting for the Hart Trophy after tallying a career-high 109 points (40 goals, 69 assists) during a successful first season in South Florida.

Changing the nature of the game every time he stepped onto the ice, Tkachuk, who earned a spot on the NHL Second All-Star Team as a consolation prize, became the first player to surpass both 100 points and 100 penalty minutes in the same season since Sidney Crosby in 2005-06.

Helping the Panthers punch their ticket to the playoffs by just a single point, Tkachuk found another level and logged 12 points (five goals, seven assists) during the team's 6-1-1 run to close out the regular season. Coming up in the clutch, three of those five goals were game-winners.

A model of consistency, Tkachuk never went more than three games without a point in 2022-23.