Mar 30, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) moves the puck against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/fb557099-fa4e-4054-a50e-cc1e2747ca79.jpeg] Mar 30, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) moves the puck against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images) Florida Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov hit a major milestone on Sunday. When Barkov took the ice for Florida’s home game against the Montreal Canadiens, it was his 800th game in the National Hockey League. Barkov has spent his entire NHL career with the Panthers after Florida selected him second overall at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He played his first game in a Panthers sweater as a fresh-faced 18-year-old a few months later, scoring his first NHL goal against the Dallas Stars on Opening Night. Now, 800 games later, Barkov has been through just about everything with the Panthers. He’s been an All-Star, represented the team in his native Finland, become the leader on countless franchise records – Barkov is the franchise leader in games played, goals, assists, points, shots and power play goals – and, oh yeah, led the team to their first ever Stanley Cup Championship. He’s also the first Panthers player to ever reach the 800-game mark with the team. The 29-year-old is far from done rewriting Florida’s record books, though. Barkov is in the fifth season of an eight-year deal that pays him $10 million annually, but knowing both Barkov and Panthers General Manager Bill Zito, it’s highly likely that the Cats’ captain ends up finishing his career in South Florida. With Barkov as captain and Zito as GM, Florida has qualified for the postseason a franchise record five straight seasons. They’ve reached the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two years and, as was previously mentioned, Barkov hoisted the historic trophy last June. Eventually, Barkov’s number will be hanging in the rafters at Amerant Bank Arena and, quite possibly, the Finnish star will find his face among those in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Congrats to Barky on reaching 800 games played! LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Florida fails to foil desperate Canadiens squad, fall 4-2 to Montreal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/florida-fails-to-foil-desperate-canadiens-squad-fall-4-2-to-montreal] Panthers wrap up homestand against Montreal squad clinging to last Wild Card spot [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-wrap-up-homestand-against-montreal-squad-clinging-to-last-wild-card-spot] Three takeaways: Marchand flips sides mid-game, Bobrovsky shows off laser focus [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-marchand-flips-sides-mid-game-bobrovsky-shows-off-laser-focus] Brad Marchand speaks on Panthers debut, excitement level to join team building 'something special' [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/brad-marchand-speaks-on-panthers-debut-excitement-level-to-join-team-building-something-special] Bennett scores twice, Marchand picks up OT assist as Panthers defeat Utah 2-1 [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/bennett-scores-twice-marchand-picks-up-ot-assist-as-panthers-defeat-utah-2-1]
