During the first few days of free agency in early July, the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers managed to re-sign forwards Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart to five- and seven-year contracts, respectively. Speaking about it to Finnish media outlet MTV Urheilu, team captain Aleksander Barkov couldn’t be happier about it.
“It’s a really big deal whenever you can keep together the same core which has become successful, especially for a long time,” he said. “That’s the thing, the more players there are, who have gone through the same thing.
“Like Tampa Bay and Colorado have been together for a long time, and others who have been successful, and it’s the same thing with us now.”
Speaking about Lundell, a fellow Finn, Barkov said, “He’s a center, so I’m not often on the ice at the same time as him, but he’s a really big part of the team. In the playoffs, he rose to a whole new level and had an incredible spring. He’s a really big reason why we won the Stanley Cup.”
As for Reinhart, he said, “We played almost the entire season on the same line. He helped me a lot, took faceoffs on his side, we killed penalties at the same time. Power play, PK, all the most important moments, he’s on the ice.”
He added, “It’s great that we were able to keep them, and hopefully we can keep the same core together as long as possible.”
The different rates of taxation in the NHL’s various jurisdictions is a big topic of discussion among fans and media this off-season. The league’s two Florida-based teams have combined to represent the Eastern Conference in the last five finals and win the three of the last five Cups, and Barkov is obviously aware of the issue.
“Of course, it’s an advantage,” Barkov. “I think it can affect it a little, or even a lot, but luckily I’m not a manager, I’m just a player and I don’t have to think about those things.”