After missing season with injury, Panthers’ Barkov leads Finland to World Championship gold
It was a sight familiar to Florida Panthers fans during the past couple years.
Aleksander Barkov, the captain, lifting a championship trophy in the air and celebrating with his teammates.
This time, though, Barkov wasn’t celebrating with the Panthers, who didn’t even make the Stanley Cup playoffs this year after three straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final and back-to-back championships.
This time, it was Barkov leading his home country to gold.
Barkov and Finland won the 2026 IIHF World Championship with a 1-0 overtime victory over Switzerland in the gold medal game on Sunday at Swiss Life Arena in Zurich. It was Finland’s fifth gold medal at the event and first since 2022.
And Panthers fans have to be excited with the way Barkov played in the tournament, considering the circumstances.
Barkov missed the entire 2025-26 NHL season after sustaining a major knee injury on his first day of training camp. He underwent reconstructive surgery to repair the ACL and MCL of his right knee. While he rejoined the Panthers for practice late in the season, he did not take the ice in a lost and injury-riddled season that saw Florida go 40-38-4. Barkov also missed the opportunity to captain Finland in the 2026 Winter Olympics because of the injury, so being cleared to participate at Worlds was something of a silver lining for him.
“Of course, everyone wanted to make the playoffs and play there ... but thankfully, I got an invitation from the Finnish team to join them and play for Worlds,” Barkov said during the Panthers’ exit interviews in April. “It’s a big honor to represent Finland for me, and one of those childhood dreams to win a World Championship is a big goal for me too. So really excited about that.”
Barkov finished the tournament leading Finland with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) over 10 games. He also won 65.7% of his faceoffs while playing on Finland’s top line and top power-play unit.
And Barkov wasn’t the only Panther to win gold in Switzerland. Fellow forward Anton Lundell also played for Finland. He finished with seven points (four goals, three assists) and had the primary assist on the championship-winning overtime goal. Three of Lundell’s goals came on the power play.
Couple the gold with their two Stanley Cups, and Barkov and Lundell are now just a gold medal in the Olympics shy of joining the Triple Gold club. Only 30 players ever have won all three championships. The only Finn to do so is Valtteri Filppula.
How other Panthers fared at the World Championship
Barkov and Lundell were two of five Panthers to participate at Worlds.
Star winger Matthew Tkachuk played for the United States, logging seven points (four goals, three assists) in five games. The United States was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Canada.
Defenseman Marek Alscher scored two goals for Czechia, which went 4-0-1-2 in the group stage and lost to Finland in the quarterfinals.
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