Florida Panthers F Aleksander Barkov (Finland), D Aaron Ekblad (Canada), F Jussi Jokinen (Finland), F Tomas Kopecky (Slovakia) and D Dmitry Kulikov (Russia) will represent their respective native countries at the 2015 IIHF World Men’s Ice Hockey Championship in Prague and Ostrava, Czech Republic, from May 1-17.
Barkov, 19, played in 71 games with Florida this season, recording a career-high 16 goals, 20 assists and 36 points. Barkov’s 16 goals led all Finnish-born NHL players this season. The Tampere, Finland, native was selected by Florida in the first round (second overall) of the 2013 National Hockey League Draft.