The last NHL season was Florida’s for the regular season To Aleksander Barkov, 28, difficult. The club’s captain from Tampere was not able to start as usual, and after a dazzling playoff spring, he admitted in Urheilu’s summer interview that he did not feel good last season.
Barkov made the necessary conclusions about the season and prepared for the current season in a different way. According to his speeches, the large forward spoke about the importance of speed and explosiveness during the opera’s summer training.
The work done can now be seen in NHL bowls.
Barkov has played, to put it bluntly, in the NHL’s absolute center elite of operas during the autumn season. It would hardly go wrong to raise Barkov as the best center forward of the fall season with bucks.
Eye evidence says that the movement has sharpened and the quality of the rest of the play on both sides of the puck has remained at least at the former top level.
– It has Florida’s usual game changes, weight loss and breakaway ability. There you can find the reasons for a great autumn.
– He didn’t get the most out of himself last season. When talking about a heavy player, the ability to release must be at its maximum. The weight must not drop too much, but you must be able to keep it appropriate. That’s the ability to let go he has done in the summer, a former NHL forward working as JYP’s assistant coach Ville Nieminen says.
Datsyuk of the new era
Barkov is perhaps the most comprehensive center forward in the NHL today. Conscientiousness in the game without the puck, quality in the defensive game, as well as the ability to read the game, exploit and break the opponent’s game, are looking for equals in any club.
Deep data provides impressive evidence for all this. At the same time, when many of Barkov’s competitors are looking for a result with the so-called advantage, anticipating, even stealing a little from the defense, the Florida skipper does not compromise on responsibility.
This can be seen, among other things, in the fact that, when comparing the top centers, Barkov has created the fewest chances of a goal.
And defending has not been absent from attacking, on the contrary. When looking at the ratio of dangerous goal posts, Barkov is once again number one on the list in terms of top centers. The situation is the same in relation to goal expectations.
Barkov has not yet broken the piggy bank in terms of power, mainly due to his lagging superiority game. The panther pack has been operating with superiority at only 18 percent power.
Barkov has recorded only six points with superiority when, for example of Brayden Point the reading is 13 and by Jack Hughes 12. However, the scores never tell the whole truth about Barkov’s playing.
Barkov is like my Detroit Russian father Pavel Datsyuk 10-15 years ago. The nearly flawless Russian never had to break the hundred-point barrier to become one of the greatest.
Datsyuk didn’t win point exchanges, but he did win Stanley Cups. Barkov approaches his playing from the same angle.
Boring and balanced
Barkov’s entire being now exudes where he wants to develop and what is essential to him in the sport. It is not a point exchange win.
– Maybe his playing has also acquired a suitable sense of humor and relaxation with age. Ice hockey is a great game and it should be played seriously but not too seriously. Last spring it wasn’t enough, but now he and they know how to get there, Nieminen states.
When the center comparison also takes into account that hockey is specifically a team game, Barkov’s fall season gets a new boost. Among the top centers we compared, Barkov’s team can be found in the 7th place in the NHL table.
In centimeter comparison only Jack Eichel (Vegas) and Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado) are ahead of Barkov in this respect.
Barkov doesn’t get to hang out with his neighbors either. Sam Reinhart is a quality player, but Evan Rodrigues on the other side, an average roller. The Finn’s greatness can also be seen in how he has pushed Reinhart to a pace of over a hundred points, and Rodrigues is also on pace for his career record points.
With five against five, the trio has won their game crushingly 14–2!
– An important consideration for Barkov is also related to how a balance has been found in Florida’s way of playing. That group has tried everything possible. There has been a fast anticipation game, vertical hockey, no place to play, superiority of five forwards and everything, Nieminen lists.
– However, now they are bored and they are becoming a winning team. Balanced, dull and winning.
Barkov, who returned to the rink from a short break caused by a knee injury, is unlikely to get lost in the big headlines often in the future. However, the captain and his troops seem to be on the verge of something bigger.