Aleksander Barkov

Aleksander Barkov (born Aleksander Barkov Jr. on September 9, 1995) is a Finnish-Russian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He was selected by the Florida Panthers in the first round (second overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing Career
On October 1, 2011, Aleksander made his debut in SM-liiga and became the youngest ever player in the league to score a point with his assist to a goal by Kalle Kaijomaa.

In December of 2011, he was chosen to play for Finland men's national junior ice hockey team as the youngest Finnish player in the Ice Hockey World Junior Championships.

On January 2, 2012 (during the quarterfinal match against Slovakia), Aleksander became the second youngest player to score a goal at the World Juniors when he was 16 years and 4 months old. The record is held by Kazakhstan's Viktor Alexandrov who set the record in 2001 when he was 15 years old.

On July 15, 2013, he signed his first NHL contract with the Florida Panthers.

On October 3, 2013, Aleksander scored a goal during a road game against Kari Lehtonen of the Dallas Stars, becoming the youngest player since the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft to score a goal at the age of 18 years and 31 days old.

Jordan Staal held the previous record (for the post-expansion era), scoring his first goal at the age of 18 and 32 days old.

Personal Life
Aleksander is the son of former Russian hockey player Aleksander Barkov, Sr.

He holds both Finnish and Russian citizenship.