The Florida Panthers were well represented in the NHL Network’s latest rankings of the league’s best players with six players making the cut among top goalies, wingers, centers, and defensemen.
With six players ranked at their respective divisions, the Panthers are tied with the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning for having the most players selected.
Since the Panthers are, after all, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, that is not much of a surprise.
Earlier this week, NHL Network wrapped up its rankings with the goalies — and Sergei Bobrovsky placed fourth.
“To win back-to-back Stanley Cups and just re-cement himself as a top five goalie,” analyst Cory Schneider said, “I think this could be even low for him.”
At center, captain Sasha Barkov was ranked fourth with Sam Bennett — who signed an eight-year, $64 million deal with the team in June — coming in No. 20.
When it came to Barkov, former Florida Panthers forward and NHL Network analyst Brian Boyle had some very flattering words.
Barkov, of course, has won the Selke Trophy for best defensive forward the past two seasons and three times in his career.
During the playoffs, it was announced he was the first player to ever win the Selke and King Clancy trophies in the same season.
“If you have him on your team, and you’re a head coach, you’re thanking God every single
night for your situation because he does make your job that much easier,’’ said Boyle, who played with Barkov and the Panthers during the 2019-20 season.
“If Barky wanted to get 40 goals, or 50 goals even, I think he could do it. He would never risk the perfect shifts that he has game-over-game-over-game to make sure you’re not going to score.
“He sees the talent around him now and he’s going to make sure he wins his shifts, doesn’t necessarily have to score, if a big goal is needed, we’ve seen it in the Stanely Cup Final, he’s scored some big, beautiful goals. It’s not what drives him; winning drives him. He doesn’t want the limelight, and he doesn’t need to attention. He’s just going to play perfect hockey.”
Defenseman Gus Forsling was 12th, with wingers Matthew Tkachuk (seventh) and Sam Reinhart (eighth) finishing off the list.
More FHN Coverage of the Stanley Cup Champion Panthers:
2024 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2025
FLORIDA PANTHERS
ON DECK
