Sergei Bobrovsky with a next-level hot take that one of his teammates is the best player alive

The Florida Panthers are enjoying far more success in 2020-21 than most everyone had expected they would, given their mediocre 2019-20 season and star center Aleksander Barkov is a huge reason why they are where they are this season, leading the Central Division and sitting atop the league in the overall standings.

Barkov's play has been so sensational, in fact, that it prompted a very controversial comment (and possibly the mother of all hot takes) from his goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky following Monday's victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, during which Barkov registered 3 points in the win.

"I think he's the best player in this league, in the world," Bobrovsky said of Barkov during a postgame interview with Fox Sports Panthers.

As fantastic of a player as Barkov is, I think we can all agree that Bobrovsky is a bit biased here. When you look around the league and start listing off the NHL's top players, Barkov certainly belongs in the conversation in the top-10, and possibly even the top-5, depending on the criteria on which the list is judged.

Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl and Auston Matthews are definitely ahead of Barkov from where I'm sitting. Then you've got a whole other crop of forwards that you can make an argument for in those 5-10 spots, including Patrick Kane, David Pastrnak, Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, Mark Scheifele, Jack Eichel, Artemi Panarin, Brayden Point, Mikko Rantanen, Mitch Marner.. to claim that Barkov is the clear frontrunner, ranking ahead of all of these players.. that's a really, really hot take.

Barkov is on pace for his best statistical season to date with 34 points in just 28 games, which equates to around 99 points over an 82-game season, or slightly above his 96 points in 82 games in 2018-19. To put it into perspective, Connor McDavid is currently sitting at 53 points in 31 games, which puts him on pace for 140 points over 82 games. McDavid has more assists (36) than Barkov has total points.

While scoring the most points doesn't necessarily make you the better player overall, I think when you're THAT far ahead of the game in terms of production, you've got to be pretty damn good.

If you move from circle to circle and ask the question, I don't think you'll find too many people who would agree with Bobrovksy here that Barkov is the best player in the world. He may not even be the best player in Florida (see Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point).

While Bob has certainly shown himself to be an excellent teammate, you have to wonder whether he put the cart in front of the horse with this one.

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