Around the league Sidney Crosby remains the gold standard for centers. In any situation, at any time, Crosby is the best option for a coach. Power Play, short-handed, leading, trailing, tied. Rightfully so, Crosby has been given the bulk of those minutes and the best quality of that quantity.
Aleksander Barkov’s list of accomplishments is long: youngest player to score a goal and an assist in the Finnish top league, youngest player to score a goal at the under 20 World Junior Championships, youngest player to score a goal in the NHL, and highest drafted Finn of all time (and that’s just the ones I felt like typing). Yet with six points in his first six games this season, a rousing finish to last season with linemates Jaromir Jagr and Jonathan Huberdeau, and two seasons of stalwart defense and high possession numbers in the NHL as a teenager, Barkov remains under-utilized. Barkov ranked 24th in Time On Ice (TOI) for centers following Tuesday night’s tilt with Pittsburgh (NHL.com).
I shouldn’t be all sour — 18 minutes a night and a point-per-game pace is sweet for a 20 year old, 3rd year player — but it’s time to acknowledge that Barkov is not just a “player,” and his ice time should reflect that.
It’s starting to happen now. The media has been echoing similar sentiments of praise for Sasha.
Tallon said Barkov is most complete 20-year-old he’s ever seen #flapanthers
— Harvey Fialkov (@hfialkov) October 20, 2015
Florida forward Aleksander Barkov’s scouting report so far this season:🔥🔥💥🔥🔥 — Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) October 16, 2015
.@NHLBlackhawks Kane & @FlaPanthers Barkov lead all #NHL forwards with 1:40 of ES possession time (all 3 zones) per-20 #Sportlogiq
— Christopher Boucher (@Chris_LogiQ) October 19, 2015
Even ESPN and John Buccigross are jumping in. Denis Potvin during the broadcast Tuesday night recalled how Crosby, himself, hasn’t been shy praising Barkov’s all-around game. It seems the only person who is hesitant to buy in is his own coach.
Rather than using Barkov to match up against Crosby and the Penguin’s top line, Gallant decided to shelter Barkov and keep him away from Sid. Well, at least for the majority of the game. It started out well, Barkov beating Crosby on the opening faceoff. But after Crosby’s third shift, the matchup was primarily abandoned, despite Barkov’s line controlling the majority of play.
The lovely visuals from Data Rink (@datarink) show the line matchups well. Click on the charts to open them at Datarink.com.
In the first chart, there are two things to take note of. First, before the Penguins took the lead Barkov went head-to-head with Crosby and was coming out on top. It wasn’t until the power play where Sid scored his first of the year that Barkov stayed on the bench when Crosby went out. After that, the match up only re-appeared at the start or end of a period.
The second thing to notice is the greater percentage of white space between Barkov’s shifts than Crosby’s. Simply put, Barkov spent more time sitting on the bench between shifts than Crosby. Not only does this hinder Barkov and his line’s ability to stay in the flow of the game, it also gave the Penguins multiple opportunities to get Crosby on the ice twice before Barkov would hop back on.
The second chart shows individual skater matchups, with a little help from that black box description in the middle and the key at the bottom. In just over six and a half minutes against Crosby, Barkov was +4 in shot attempt events despite starting in his own end three times to Crosby’s one. No other Panther’s line had similar success versus Crosby.
The argument could be made that Gallant’s strategy was to keep Barkov producing by saving him from tough checking assignments. Sure, it makes sense in theory. But this is Barkov. A player whose defensive prowess at 17 years old caught the eye of many veteran Finns who returned to the SM-Liiga during the half-season lockout in Fall 2012. Mikko Koivu and Jussi Jokinen came away impressed with Barkov’s ability to control the puck and the game. It wouldn’t surprise me if that went a long way to helping Jokinen decide to sign with the Panthers that following summer, after they drafted Barkov. Or, that because Pittsburgh had the last change (being the home team) that they were running away from the matchup. But too many times Crosby started a power play (like he always does) and Barkov remained idle on the bench, rested.
Oh, and it is not like Barkov has had problems creating offense against Pittsburgh…
Also from earlier: Barkov doing Barkov things #FlaPanthers pic.twitter.com/qu9erGVHOE — Shane O’Donnell (@shane1342o) October 20, 2015
When the final horn sounded, Sidney Crosby racked up a goal and two assists (a point on every goal) in 21 minutes and 55 seconds of ice time. Barkov ended his night with 18 minutes and eight seconds of ice time, and zero points. All three of Crosby’s points game with Barkov sitting on the bench.
This isn’t shocking considering Gerard Gallant has tried to maintain a balanced bench since his time in Florida began. His strategy most nights involves rolling four lines and three defense pairs as much as possible even strength, and even on special teams. But enough is enough. Aleksander Barkov is the best defensive forward, the best offensive center, and the top player on the Panthers roster. To get the most out of him, Gallant needs to utilize him more. With only 25 seconds of penalty kill time, there is no excuse for not using Barkov on the penalty kill in overtime. Heck, at any point in the game.
Barkov may not have as many points in a year as Crosby but he’s the Panthers’ Crosby. He’s their every-man. He needs to be the go-to guy in every situation. He needs to play as much as Sid does. Period. He needs to go against top centers every night.
It’s playoffs or bust this season. If Gallant doesn’t start using Barkov as an elite center, he may find himself without a job should they miss the cut. We’ll see how Gallant responds versus Jonathan Toews and the champion Chicago Blackhawks.
P.S. Barkov.
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