Welcome to The Puck Under the Sun’s 3rd annual Panther MVP Award. Here is what the award history is

2015-16: Jaromir Jagr          Runner Ups: Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad
2016-17: Jon Marchessault Runner Ups: Vincent Trocheck, Aleksander Barkov

Now this year’s MVP award was pretty obvious. However before I unveil the team MVP, here are the runner ups.

2nd Runner Up- Vincent Trocheck

Last year’s 1st runner up, Trocheck continues to improve every year. He is one of the best second line centers in the game. No stranger to physichality, Trocheck is a great offensive player. Trocheck has been phenomenal despite the fact that he has had a rotating carosuel of linemates. He seems to have found chemistry with Jonathan Huberdeau. Hopefully this new duo will power the team for years to come.

1st Runner Up- Roberto Luongo

Luongo has been phenomenal. Although he has missed a lot of time, his .930 save percentage is hard to overlook. Luongo has been a brick wall for a majority of the season especially with his age. He also gave that phenomenal speech about Stoneman Douglas. Lu will be seeing a lot of starts down the stretch. Will the 38 year old finally lift the Cup? We will see

MVP-Aleksander Barkov

The obvious MVP of the team. Barkov has elevated his game this year and has managed to stay healthy. He made his first all star game too. The 2013 2nd overall pick, Barkov has been instrumental for the team since he stepped into the league. This year has seen Barkov finally getting the respect he deserves. Barkov will likely compete for the Selke and his name has entered the Hart conversation. With a career high 69 points in 66 games, the Finnish phenom finished as 1st runner up in 2016 and 2nd in 2017. Winning the MVP, Barkov has become the first ever Triple Crown winner. That means he is the first player ever to win the MVP, 1st runner up and 2nd runner up all by my standards and he did it in 3 years. His name will definitely keep showing up on this list for years to come.