Pair of essential Finnish forwards celebrate preseason birthdays ahead of Panthers training camp
Two of the Florida Panthers top young forwards are celebrating another trip around the sun this weekend.
Panthers captain Sasha Barkov turned 28 years old on Saturday while fellow Finn Eetu Luostarinen celebrated his 25th birthday.
Both players have become key members of Florida’s forward ranks.
Barkov, the former second overall pick from the 2013 NHL Draft, has been a cornerstone player for the Panthers since he first took the ice for the Cats as a teenager 10 years ago.
He’s become one of the top two-way players in the NHL while helping turn the franchise around from one mired in mediocrity to a perennial playoff team and Stanley Cup contender.
Luostarinen, who was acquired in the Vincent Trocheck trade back in 2020, has seen his play grow and blossom since arriving in South Florida.
Selected in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft by Carolina, Luostarinen was still quite raw and wet behind the ears when the trade took place, but boy has he grown into himself.
Luostarinen, like Barkov, has been excellent on both ends of the ice. He’s become an integral part of Florida’s penalty kill and quickly earned the trust of Paul Maurice and his coaching staff after they came on board last summer.
There is an argument to be made that Florida’s impressive postseason run earlier this year didn’t begin its ultimate downfall when Matthew Tkachuk suffered a broken sternum during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, but actually a week earlier when Luostarinen’s knee was hit by a puck and ultimately lost for the remainder of the playoffs during Florida’s Game 4 victory of Carolina, a win that completed an Eastern Conference Final sweep.
Looking at the big picture, there has been a clear upward trajectory with Luostarinen in each of his three seasons in South Florida.
He jumped from eight points in 44 games during his initial season with the Cats to nine goals and 26 points in 78 games during the 2021-22 year, which opened some eyes.
Then there was last season, which some may consider a breakout campaign for Eetu in which he racked up 17 goals and 43 points while playing in all 82 games for the Panthers.
Combine that with the way Florida struggled after Luostarinen and his impact in multiple facets of the game was lost late in the playoffs and it becomes clearer just how important of a player he’s developed into.
Both Luostarinen and Barkov will be leaned on heavily by the Panthers next season, especially during the early stages of the season when Florida could be without the services of top defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour.
On this day, though, we’re raising our glasses for two young Panthers celebrating birthdays ahead of what could be career seasons for both.
Happy birthday, Sasha and Eetu!