Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov to captain Finland at 4 Nations Face-Off
One of the best players in the game will be leading his team into the first “best-on-best” tournament in several years.
On Thursday, Finland revealed that Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov will be the team captain at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.
Mikko Rantanen and Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes, along with San Jose Sharks forward Mikael Granlund, have been named alternate captains.
Aleksander Barkov named captain for Finland at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.
Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund and Mikko Rantanen named alternate captains.
While Barkov has been consistently one of the stars in the NHL for several years, this will be the first time the Tampere native will be donning his nation’s colors since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Barkov previously competed for Finland at two IIHF Men’s World Championships, taking home silver in 2016. He also represented the Finns at the 2012 and 2013 IIHF World Junior Championships, along with the 2012 IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Championship.
Barkov was also part of the last Finnish team featuring NHLers to play at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. It was the only time he has been able to play at the quadrennial event.
While his international pedigree is small, Barkov’s play in the NHL is well-respected. Widely regarded as one of the best two-way players in the game today, Barkov has been awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward twice. He’s also been selected to play in the All-Star Game twice.
The 2019 Lady Byng winner has captained the Panthers for the past seven seasons, being the first player in franchise history to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup when Florida outlasted the Edmonton Oilers in a classic seven-game series last spring, becoming the first Finnish player to captain a team to the Cup.
In 42 games this season, Barkov has scored 12 goals and 30 assists, with his 42 points placing him third on the team in scoring. In 779 career appearances, he has notched 278 goals and 475 assists for 753 points, including 59 points in 71 playoff games.
The tournament begins in Montreal in a little over two weeks. Finland will begin the round-robin against the United States on Feb. 13 before taking on rival Sweden on Feb. 15. Suomi will wrap up the opening stage in Boston on Feb. 17 against Canada.