Matthew Tkachuk on the Stanley Cup and Becoming the Face of the NHL: ‘I’m Just Being Myself’ (Exclusive)

The NHL star's historic postseason has helped lift the unlikely Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final and made him one of the league's biggest stars

Matthew Tkachuk might be the hottest thing on ice right now.

The second-generation NHL star has helped lift the unlikely Florida Panthers to this year’s Stanley Cup Final against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, suddenly becoming the league’s most clutch — and one of its most popular — players in the process.

“I’m just being myself,” Tkachuk, 25, tells PEOPLE ahead of the start of the series against the Golden Knights on Saturday. “I’ve never changed my personality once in my life for anybody. It’s definitely not time to do that now and I never will.”

Panthers fans — and the NHL — hope he never does either. A shocking trade sent Tkachuk, the son of legendary NHL forward Keith Tkachuk, from the Calgary Flames to the Panthers last offseason, and the young winger quickly found himself at home in Florida. His 40-goal season made him a fan favorite and a finalist for the league’s MVP award.

And during the playoffs, a handful of heroic game-winning goals and gritty performances have taken him to an echelon beyond expectations. His historic play has helped the Panthers — the last team to even qualify for the playoffs — take down the record-setting Boston Bruins, the star-studded Toronto Maple Leafs and the heavily favored Carolina Hurricanes over the first three rounds.

Tkachuk’s three overtime goals during that span are tied for the most in NHL playoff history.

“Should Matthew Tkachuk be the face of the NHL?” Yahoo! Sports asked, days after he scored the series-winning goal against the Hurricanes with 0:04 seconds left on the clock. The goal ended with Tkachuk sliding across the ice on his knees, his arms open wide with the confidence of a player in the running for this year’s league and playoff MVP awards, and his mouthguard hanging from his teeth, oozing a Steph Curry-like charisma that has the league promoting him as one of its most exciting players in years.

“That’s something you dream about,” Tkachuk tells PEOPLE. “That was a huge goal and one of my favorite ones to date.”

There’s been plenty to choose from. He’s scored 152 goals in his first six seasons in the league, including 40 this year with nine more in the playoffs.

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Tkachuk's goal count is impressive, but not shocking seeing as dad Keith, now 51, was one of the most prolific goal scorers to ever play the game.

While Keith is one of just 47 players to score more than 500 goals in NHL history, Matthew is already chasing down the 538 his dad scored throughout his 18-year career and catching the attention of stars across the sports world — like Charles Barkley and Brooks Koepka —  while doing it.

Barkley recently called Matthew “the greatest Tkachuk,” telling the young star he’s even better than his dad. Tkachuk would dispute Barkley’s take during when he sat alongside him and Shaquille O’Neil for an interview on Inside the NBA.

“I don’t consider myself that at all,” Tkachuk similarly tells PEOPLE, chuckling about Barkley’s comments. “I think all our family cares about is winning the series and what all comes with that.”

But then he paused and quipped: “And then we’ll deal with that at a different time.”

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Jokes aside, Tkachuck says dad Keith has been “buzzing” throughout the playoffs. “He almost wants me to win it more [than he ever did],” he says about his dad. “He’s so proud.”

Most of the Tkachuk family has been at every Panthers home game these playoffs, including his dad, his mom Chantal, and his younger brother Brady, the captain of the Ottawa Senators and an NHL All Star in his own right. “We’re hoping that one day we can get a chance to play with each other,” Tkachuk says, “Whether that’s a Team USA thing or we’ll see what happens in the NHL, but hopefully one day.”

But for now, Tkachuk’s eyes are on the Stanley Cup. And the sports world’s are on what he’ll do next.

“I think what some people have taken a liking to is the fact I’m just me being genuine,” Tkachuk says. “People understand that and enjoy that about me. And it makes me feel good that people enjoy me being me, so I’ll just keep being myself.”

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