Niko Mikkola is a huge reason why the Panthers are back in the Cup final

Florida Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola has tallied three goals and two assists in 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Panthers this postseason while averaging 19:22 minutes of ice time.

Today on Daily Faceoff Live, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss Mikkola’s role and how impressive he has been with the Panthers throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I went with Niko Mikkola, looking at some of his numbers. I mean, he was like Bobby Orr to start the playoffs; it was unbelievable. He’s a big reason why I think it’s as strong as last year when he’s been on the ice at five on five in these playoffs, 265 minutes, the Panthers have won 15 to eight in that stretch and his most common forward opponent on each of the teams they’ve played, Kucharov then Marner, then Aho. He goes toe-to-toe with the best lines, the top lines on the other teams, and Florida’s outscored them 15 to 8. They’re going to need Mikkola to be big again. Barkov and the top pairing with Ekblad can take one of the McDavid lines if Mikkola can give them steady minutes against the other dynamic duo partner in Edmonton. Then, they’ll be in a good spot.

Frank Seravalli: They will be, and it was really interesting to hear Bill Zito talk yesterday about their team and the way that it’s structured with their defense, because you look at Mikkola and I think back to his previous stops in New York or St. Louis or wherever he’s been. There’s been an amazing thing about this team where they have defensemen that come in and get better. Iomikola has gotten way better, and that’s been a trend for them, you know, over this last run where Gutstav Forsling comes in and is a guy who becomes a, you know, an all-world type player and contributor. He gave a lot of the credit to that, they call him Sly, but Sylvain Lefebvre has been such a huge part of their team, and really getting those defensmen to be in a spot where he can make an impact like that at Mikkola can be an under-the-radar player.