There are a few key reasons the Florida Panthers have become one of the most feared teams in the NHL in recent seasons.
Their unforgiving physicality is one.
Their style of aggressive, relentless forechecking is another.
Where it starts and stops for many, though, is the way Florida defends.
They play a tight gap, five-man unit when it comes to playing without the puck, and it has proven to be incredibly successful over the past three seasons.
Having players, both forwards and defenseman, who are willing to commit to playing the difficult and demanding systems are essential.
It just so happens that Florida has two of the absolute best defensive forwards in the NHL, and they are both being recognized on a grand scale.
Last week, Panthers forwards Sasha Barkov and Sam Reinhart were each named finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, which is given annually to “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.”
Barkov has won the award twice, in 2021 and last season. This is the first time Reinhart has been named a finalist for an NHL award.
“It's pretty cool to go through this together,” Reinhart said. “Barky has been in this conversation ever since he's come into the league. He’s the best two-way player in the game, so it's obviously a pleasure to be able to go out there every night with him.”
“It's awesome,” added Barkov. “It's not like every year that two guys from the same team get nominated for the for the award, so it's pretty special.”
That’s right, Sasha.
In fact, it’s the first time since 2008 that two teammates were both named finalists for the Selke.
Back then, it was Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg receiving the honor, with Datsyuk ultimately winning what was the first of three straight Selke awards.
“It’s amazing to play with a guy like that, who thinks about the game the pretty much same way as you,” said Barkov. “We’re both defensive-minded, but we also learned how to play together offensively as well. It helps a lot when you're on the ice and you know the guy next to you is going to think about the game the same way, and he's going to go to the right spots all the time.”
Reinhart and Barkov do appear to feed off each other.
They played sparingly together during Reinhart’s first couple seasons with the Panthers, but it’s been the past two years that they have skated almost exclusively on the top line together.
Knowing how skilled and defensively responsible the other is has only allowed both of their respective defensive games to flourish and reach new heights.
“I think we've learned a lot, and we've only gotten better over the years,” said Reinhart. “We're both defensive minded, but I think we've learned how to attack the game, knowing the other ones out there on the ice with us.”
It will be interesting to see how the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association voters cast their ballots.
Both Barkov and Reinhart will receive first place votes.
We’ll find out next month who ends up the winner, but it’s been fun watching the two teammates grow together on both ends of the ice.
“I think we were almost too defensive when we first started together when I first came to Florida,” Reinhart said. “But we’ve progressed well over the years, so it's pretty exciting to be in this together.”
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