MIAMI — Aleksander Barkov isn’t leaving South Florida any time soon.
The Florida Panthers’ top-line center and team captain on Friday agreed to an eight-year, $80 million contract extension, keeping him with the Panthers through the 2029-2030 season.
“It’s an exciting day for the Panthers,” general manager Bill Zito said in a news conference in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Barkov, 26, is heading into his ninth NHL season and is considered one of the top two-way centers in the league. He ranks second in franchise history in goals (188), assists (284) and points (465).
He was an All-Star in 2018, and the winner of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (given to the player who “exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”) in 2019 and the Frank J. Selke Trophy (given to the best two-way forward) in 2021. Barkov was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 NHL entry draft and has played his entire career with the Panthers.
“I’m still here,” Barkov said with a smile. “I’m really happy about this place and really think I have two homes now — one in Finland and one here. When the season starts and I’m coming here, I feel like I’m coming home and when I’m leaving, I’m going home. I’m really lucky.”
Barkov’s extension comes just as Florida is emerging as one of the top teams in the NHL. Barkov only reached the traditional 16-team Stanley Cup playoffs once in his first seven seasons with the Panthers, then helped Florida finish with the fourth-most points in the NHL last season. Although the Panthers bowed out in the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, they went to six games with the eventual-champion Tampa Bay Lightning and established themselves as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Now they hope their window will be open for years to come.
In the offseason, Florida’s primary focus was keeping its core intact. The Panthers re-signed all but one of their forwards to suit up the playoffs last season and added a few pieces around the edges to gear up for a Cup run. Their next focus was locking up Barkov to an extension.
The center has been the franchise player essentially since the day he first stepped on the ice and has been happy playing in a nontraditional hockey market, trying to build the sport in South Florida. Last year, real progress happened in the form of the best regular season in franchise history, and Barkov said he hoped to stay with the Panthers long-term. On Friday, the two sides made it happen.
“Everybody wanted to get it done,” Zito said. “It became clear. We figured out a way that it could happen that was efficient. It made sense. We didn’t want it to be a distraction. To be honest, I don’t think it was really an issue with us. It was certainly not an issue in the room or anything but these types of things can be — the day-to-day, what’s happening in the rumor mill and what have you.”
With Barkov now signed until 2030, Florida has its 12 highest-paid players — including Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad, MacKenzie Weegar and Sergei Bobrovsky — locked up through at least next season.
The Panthers have a clear window to contend for a Cup this year. Now the window will be open even longer.
