Is Barkov overrated?

[heksagon]

Barkov could be a beast but he plays too nice. He doesn't have killer instinct. I think Florida should strip the C from him and give it to Tkachuk.

How would that benefit the Panthers at all, other than create unnecessary controversy? They can both be leaders in the locker room and on the ice, doesn't matter what reads on their chest. Also would send the wrong message with the team being successful right now.

Tkatchuk was clearly better against the Bruins, but against the Leafs Barkov was arguably more important with his defensive play, when neither were really scoring.

It surprises me that the same HFBoards that likes to (somewhat deservedly ) discredit players like Karlsson for not playing defense, sometimes doesn't see the value of defense when it comes to forwards like Barkov. It's no accident both Boston's and Toronto's first lines struggled heavily with the match up against him. The Jonathan Toews comparison was great in that sense.

 

[Easternbull]

Apart from pneumonia and injuries, Sasha has been struggling with a nasty custody case this season with a russian gold digger which has probably been the biggest reason for his lackluster regular season.

He had another Illness to start of the series against Boston, but looks to have gotten his legsback now, was skating in mud against Boston.

Think people need to stop talking about how bad Mathews/Marner where and realize how good Barkov and Lundell are!!!

Bergeron/Crosby/Kopitar are on the way out and will be replaced by Hintz/Aho/Barkov as the leagues most complete centermen IMHO.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

It's funny seeing the contrast between how people talk about him and Matthews.

Barkov is an elite two-way center, and Matthews is soft and can't get it done in the playoffs.

Meanwhile Matthews has two playoff series already with 5 goals, before this series had outscored Barkov 11-1 in head to head ice time and Barkov himself said Matthews is the hardest center to match up against in the NHL. Matthews hits way more, and also blocks tons of shots and is amazing at takeaways and overall defense. But one is a soft floater and the other is the prototypical two-way center.

Yikes. What a horrible take all around.
Maybe there's a reason Matthews was a ghost this entire series?

Have you thought why?

Barkov could be a beast but he plays too nice. He doesn't have killer instinct. I think Florida should strip the C from him and give it to Tkachuk.

Matthews was a no show, Mayne below you'll find out why

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Barkov doesn't shoot enough. I thought he got over that last season, but he's reverted back to a pass-first all the time mentality, which is unfortunate. He's an excellent shooter.

 

[Tupu]

Dont think hes overrated, around top5 center doing pretty well. He was a main key for shutting down players total worth 30-40 million.

Always thought hes kinda of Datsyuk with a frame, not scoring up to his peers playoffs. Have high hopes that he can make it change and be a playoffs monster like Pavs was after 2006.

He really needs a bit of mean streak ability.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

stop this..

now he is overrated?...

he is still one of the best centers in the NHL

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Nope. He hasn't been in conversation for top 5 centers this season. He's probably still a top 10 center even with the down year he's having.

 

[Erikfromfin]

Unbeatable Center. How guy like Marner gets Selke nomination ahead of Sasha is beyond comprehension

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Did he fake going between the legs and pull it back? Sweet valley high.

 

[heksagon]

With the amount of disrespect he still gets around here, it seems like he somehow remains underrated.

 

[BB88]

2+1 in the 1st 2 games in the Eastern finals.

It really doesn’t matter what he does people love to complain

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

I think his offensive skill level is where things get a little mirky. And that's partially due to Barkov being not as aggressive offensively. He has as much talent as a Matthews or a MacKinnon. Make no mistake.

 

[thomast]

Barkov have been in my eyes the best skater in ECF, despite Tkachuk scoring 2 gwg’s. So dominant all over the ice. It’s looking pretty promising for Panthers because they basically won first two series without elite Barkov.

Now he seems to have his confidence back. Bobrovsky is having one of the greatest goalie playoff runs ever, Tkachuk being absolute beast and if they add elite Barkov into that mix. It’s going to be really tough to beat this team.

 

[blundluntman]

Not top 5 but I wouldn't be mad at anyone putting him in the top 10. An exceptional 2 way player who puts up a ppg is extremely valuable. I guess it depends on who you're talking to

 

[thomast]

Not top 5 but I wouldn't be mad at anyone putting him in the top 10. An exceptional 2 way player who puts up a ppg is extremely valuable. I guess it depends on who you're talking to

He is 6th in PPG for the C’s in past 5 seasons with 1.15 ppg. To me his defensive impact have been more inconsistent compared to his offensive production.

 

[Machinehead]

He's one of those weird players who's probably properly rated by most, but a select few think they've discovered the Hope Diamond and nobody else noticed. And when they hype him up people are like "no, we get it, he's good." The hype eventually becomes such that some start to say he's overrated because of it, and then the people doing the hype get offended that he was called overrated and turn up the hype even more. It turns into an underrated/overrated argument over a player who, again, is probably properly rated by most. It's a vicious cycle.

As others have pointed out it's similar to Toews. The all-time king of Schrodinger's Overrated, though, was Oliver Ekman-Larsson in his prime.

 

[thomast]

He's one of those weird players who's probably properly rated by most, but a select few think they've discovered the Hope Diamond and nobody else noticed. And when they hype him up people are like "no, we get it, he's good." The hype eventually becomes such that some start to say he's overrated because of it, and then the people doing the hype get offended that he was called overrated and turn up the hype even more. It turns into an underrated/overrated argument over a player who, again, is probably properly rated by most. It's a vicious cycle.

As others have pointed out it's similar to Toews. The all-time king of Schrodinger's Overrated, though, was Oliver Ekman-Larsson in his prime.

It’s not just posters in NHL player polls he is rated most underrated player almost every year. He have been ranked top 5 player before this season in major media outlets. I don’t see him being underrated at all, but outside of few media rankings he doesen’t get much attention.

It doesen’t apply in hfboards where people have more knowledge around the league and other teams. There are still posters buying the narrative what media and player polls gives. I agree with your post mostly, but i believe he still underrated outside of hardcore hockey fans.

 

[BB88]

 

[bobholly39]

Tkachuk has 4 game winning goals, including 3 in OT. He is also 1 point out of playoff scoring lead, with 21 in 16 games.

I think he's 100% in the running for smythe, close to 50/50.

I voted Bob, because I think he's in the lead as of today. But it's close enough that it'll come down to the finals (and of course, asusming Florida wins).

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Barkov was maybe the best skater on the ice in the Panthers/Canes series and nobody's talking about him, lol

 

[DingDongCharlie]

These recent Florida related threads have been aging like milk.

 

[Toby91ca]

Being overrated has nothing to do with whether you are a good player or not, it about how you are rated. My opinion was that he is overrated since I've heard many put him in the top 5 players in the game, which I disagree with, simple as that. He is playing very well in the playoffs, he's a great player, just not top 5, that's all.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Being overrated has nothing to do with whether you are a good player or not, it about how you are rated. My opinion was that he is overrated since I've heard many put him in the top 5 players in the game, which I disagree with, simple as that. He is playing very well in the playoffs, he's a great player, just not top 5, that's all.

Your take here makes no sense as you’ve attempted to attach a value to him that most don’t even share. The mass consensus isn’t that he’s a top 5 player in the league across all positions. An odd outlier opinion of a few doesn’t give a point to him being overrated. The general consensus we’ve routinely seen on HF is he’s a top 10 center. Add in the fact he’s very overlooked in the media and probably not even in the conversation as a top 10 player with the majority of casual fans and yes it’s much easier to form an argument that he’s underrated or correctly rated if you want to state top 10 C is his correct ranking.

 

[Cats2TheCup]

Your take here makes no sense as you’ve attempted to attach a value to him that most don’t even share. The mass consensus isn’t that he’s a top 5 player in the league across all positions. An odd outlier opinion of a few doesn’t give a point to him being overrated. The general consensus we’ve routinely seen on HF is he’s a top 10 center. Add in the fact he’s very overlooked in the media and probably not even in the conversation as a top 10 player with the majority of casual fans and yes it’s much easier to form an argument that he’s underrated or correctly rated if you want to state top 10 C is his correct ranking.

He's a top 5 player in the game. The vast majority of general fans don't recognize this. Hence why the players constantly vote him underrated, yet the fans fail to understand why, when they already view him as a good "top 10 C".