Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov spoke highly of former teammate and now Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, explaining what he'll bring to his new team.
Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov has been teammates with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky for the past seven seasons in Sunrise, Fla. Probably more than anyone in the NHL, he knows what Bobrovsky is all about, on the ice and off the ice, at his best and his worst.
At the NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas on Tuesday, he chatted with TheHockeyNews.com's Michael Traikos. Barkov explained what type of teammate Bobrovsky was, how much the Panthers will miss him, and what the Toronto Maple Leafs are getting in the two-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Vezina Trophy winner.
"There's no one like him," Barkov said of Bobrovsky. "The way he was here for seven seasons, it was just incredible. We're gonna miss him a lot as a person. As a goalie and a person, he was that type of guy who you look up to every single day, what he does."
Even with 16 seasons in the NHL, the 37-year-old - turning 38 on Sep. 20 - is still an influential goaltender. Though he had a down year in 2025-26, posting a career-low .877 save percentage in 52 games, Barkov believes the Maple Leafs are getting a star no matter the perspective
Me personally, I learned so much from him just watching him, just looking at him, just seeing what he does day to day, how he tries to get better, even at his age," Barkov said. "I think he's what, 37, 38; he feels like and looks like he's early 30s, maybe even late-20s. That's what you want to be as a perfect human being and athlete. For sure, we're gonna miss him a lot."
Of course, with all those NHL games under his belt, 806 regular-season appearances to be exact, he'll certainly be a leader in Toronto's locker room. But even beyond the words and wisdom that he could provide during any adversity the team faces, his work ethic will do all the talking and message-sending.
"When he speaks, everyone listens," Barkov said. "At the gym, he’s always working hard. On the ice working really hard. He’s one of those guys you look at when you’re a young guy. He works three times more than I do. Maybe I should do something about it."
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