Panthers coach Maurice has special approach for superstar Aleksander Barkov

Paul Maurice has a very simple coaching philosphy when it comes to Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.

"I don't know if I've got this right but what's that line for a doctor? Rule No. 1: Do no harm," Maurice said Monday morning ahead of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers. "I'll take it to an extreme and use another player. I had Paul Coffey, so at that point in time, he had only had four Stanley Cups and three Norris trophies. I probably wasn't adding a lot to his game as the head coach."

The same can be said for Barkov, who is in his 11th season with the Panthers and sixth as the captain. The Finnish forward is firmly in the Conn Smythe discussion with six goals, three of which were game-winners, and 19 points in 18 games during the playoffs.

Look no further than Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, when Barkov registered a pair of assists and was plus-2 during the Panthers' 3-0 Saturday night. He also won 50 per cent of his faceoffs and logged just over 21 minutes of ice time, including 2:47 while short-handed as the Panthers were a perfect 0-for-3 on the penalty kill against the high-octane Oilers featuring the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Barkov also finished the regular season scoring 23 goals and 80 points in 73 games and earned his second Frank J. Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward.

Even the Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, heaped high praise on Barkov while appearing on Sportsnet's panel during the first intermission of Game 1. Gretzky reflected on his first Stanley Cup Final appearance back in 1983 as his Oilers team was swept by the New York Islanders.

“I just said to my wife sitting there during the first period, I said, ‘No. 16 is the best defensive hockey player I’ve seen since Bryan Trottier,’" Gretzky said. "I got Bryan Trottier four games and what did I get? No goals. And what did we get? No Cup. ... Barkov makes an unreal pass and he’s good offensively, too, like Trottier was.”

Barkov was quite grateful to receive such a compliment, especially from Gretzky.

"Wow, coming from him especially, it means a lot," Barkov said during his media availability Sunday. "Everyone knows what he’s done to the game of hockey. When you hear stuff, especially people like him saying stuff like that, it obviously means a lot, coming from players or former players, so I appreciate that."

Panthers centre Sam Bennett didn't hear Gretzky's comments but said the team has known for a while just how special Barkov is and how good he is in all areas on the ice.

"I think what separates him is just his ability to do everything," Bennett said Monday. "He's an unbelievable skater, he's got the size, he's got incredible hands and he cares to play defence. He wants to stop the top guys. He's just a guy that's willing to do anything and he has the skills set to match everyone."

Maurice, who was hired as the Panthers head coach ahead of last season and has guided them to back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances, said he interacts with Barkov over the course of a year on specific parts of his game.

"There's not a lot to teach there. There [isn't]," Maurice said. "It's more what we're trying to do and where he can fit his game into what we're trying to do, so there will be a little bit of that.

"Most of it would be relating to his role as the captain. The theme, the mood, how he interacts as a leader. One of the things that we would have talked about more last year is every one of these captains that we have has a completely different personality and that he was encouraged not to change his to be a captain, not become a captain. ... How he interacts with his teammates is fantastic.

"But it's not necessarily the rah-rah that we read about, right? You read that about the captain's class and you have all of these different dominant personalities but it's really important that it's just him, so that he kind of knows how to come to the rink every day."

Maurice ended on a high note, in pure Maurice fashion, by adding: "That was a really long answer and I think that's probably more words than I've used to coach Barky for the last two years, right there."

The Panthers will look to take a 2-0 series lead when they host the Oilers for Game 2 Monday night. Watch live at 8 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. MT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.