Patrice Bergeron finished first while Calgary's Elias Lindholm was second in voting for the NHL's forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game. It hurt Barkov's chances that he missed 15 games in the regular season. "It was tough to be out, but at the same time the team was doing well, so I did not have to rush back,” Barkov said. ”I was able to concentrate on being 100 percent ready to play in the games. I took my time, we have great trainers here, they got me ready to play and after that I was just playing games and feeling great.”

Barkov is looking to win the trophy for the second straight season. That said, Patrice Bergeron had an amazing campaign, dominating on the draw and in possession categories and it wouldn't be surprising in the least if he took the trophy this year. The third finalist is Elias Lindholm, who isn't likely to win but had a great campaign in his own right. Barkov won 56.9% of his draws. He also had a plus-6.8 Corsi For percentage, which is great, but significantly worse than it was in 2020-21 when he won the award.

Barkov has six points in six games thus far. The Panthers will now await the winner of Toronto-Tampa Bay with Florida holding the home-ice advantage.

Barkov has only been held off the scoresheet once in his last four games. He has a goal and five points in five playoff contests.