Very possible. After taking 6 games to figure out what playing in the NHL means, he's on a point a game clip in the last five. His shot is nothing special, but his speed, creativity and vision are. Need a much bigger sample size to see what he really is, but he's been a joy to watch so far.
C Mathew Barzal - Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL (2015, 16th, NYI) III
- Thread starter Gardner McKay
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mm11
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The Oil brass upstairs have to be alittle miffed at Garth Snow pulling the wool over their eyes..
Skinnyjimmy08
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IMO he will only get better this year... next thing you know he will have a high point total. He has always done this. He will keep getting more and more comfortable and that's when it'll start getting scary cause he will start putting up high multipoint games and next thing you know he will be amongst the top rookie leading scorers(if not THE top soon). Each level he has played at it weirdly takes him a few games and then he absolutely kills it. Its like he uses a few games to access the speed and strength of opponents hahah
He is so damn entertaining to watch
Greatest trade Snow ever made was picking up Tim Thomas for futures(which amounted to nothing). Doing a big favor for Chiarelli helped bigtime in the next 5 years
mm11
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The Winter Soldier
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He's starting to look more and more like the player we followed in Seattle. He's playing better than a lot of 2015 draft picks right now. You can see it as his confidence continues to grow. 6 points in his last 6 games and a plus 3. My only critique is he has no PPP's yet. Imagine if he did?
The Winter Soldier
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Isles pp has been terrible. It has been a lot better the last couple of games. Barzal is playing with so much confidence right now.
The Winter Soldier
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From the games I have seen, and I do like to make a point of watching the Isles. They were my surprise team this year. Barzal has had some bad puck luck. He could easily have over 10 points this season. But it does look like the Isles PP is starting to warm up. This will help out. But most impressive is it is looking like Barzal is gaining confidence with each game. I always liked him as I ranked him at #5 overall in the 2015 draft. Took some criticism for this as the Isles took their time with him. But I simply thought he would become one of the better Centers from this draft class not named McDavid or Eichel. Matt is Starting to show he may just be this.
Riseonfire
Josh Bailey! GAME ONE, TO THE ISLAND!!!
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Barzal is quickly becoming one of the most important Islanders. He's anchoring our 2nd line and doing a damn good job.
He will push for the Calder this season.
He will push for the Calder this season.
mm11
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this kid is creating chances the moment the puck drops. Nice to see an Isles prospect developing. Let's see when the NHL takes notice and how Barzal adjusts but so far he looks great. Easily he could have 12-13 points already...maybe more
The Winter Soldier
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Make no mistake about how good coaching can impact young players, in this case Barzal. A rookie playing Center in the NHL in the top 6 is a gutsy coaching move by the impressive young coach Doug Weight. He shows so much belief in Barzal, that it is no coincidence why it has rubbed off to Barzal on how he looks so confident on the ice.
Even when Barzal makes mistakes, as most skilled players that are creative tend to do at times. Hold on to the puck too long or make higher risk passes that only creative players do. He has put Barzal out there next shift, or out late in games. Fun player to watch, and it will be a pleasure to see how he continues to get better as the season goes along. Isles may have something special brewing this year.
Barzal's possession stats are also worth noting. 55.71%.
Even when Barzal makes mistakes, as most skilled players that are creative tend to do at times. Hold on to the puck too long or make higher risk passes that only creative players do. He has put Barzal out there next shift, or out late in games. Fun player to watch, and it will be a pleasure to see how he continues to get better as the season goes along. Isles may have something special brewing this year.
Barzal's possession stats are also worth noting. 55.71%.
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Islanders4Cups
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Yesterday he was winning faceoffs, drawing penalties and carrying the play. Will be fun to watch this kid get better.
PWJunior
Stay safe!
Barzal has been impressive, he's showing off all the traits that people have been salivating over for years now. He's quickly become probably the most untouchable asset the Isles have with the uncertainty over Tavares re-signing.
Playing second fiddle to Tavares is a good spot for him, he can feast on the easier matchups. Seems to have some really good chemistry with Eberle, a good thing since Bailey is back as the #1RW with JT.
Skinnyjimmy08
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that's crazy.. cause usually he feasts on opponents on the PP all thru minor hockey and junior... once that starts clicking for him, his point total will skyrocket
PWJunior
Stay safe!
Plus he's on the 1st PP unit again. He spent time on the 2nd unit for a while until recently. He could really start racking up PPP's from here on in.
The Winter Soldier
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1 PPP this year, 6 even strength ones. And a whole lot of what could have been points. IE Bad Puck Luck.
I remember you and another poster, along with myself posting in his D + 1 year thread. He's really had a great start to his rookie year, at what some consider one of the hardest positions to play as a rookie.
He's justifying the faith from those that believed he was a top 10 or higher prospect in his draft year. Just enjoy the ride as I can only see him getting better with more experience in the NHL.
Barzal's corsi is 2nd on the team, and he's second in corsi rel% at 6.91%.
He's also 2nd--behind Tavares--in primary points/60 scoring at 2.47 pts1/60.
Also Barzal is ranked 1st in individual expected-goals/60( I don't really know what goes into calculating that statistic or its reliability) with 1.05 ixGF/60.
Probably his most surprising statistic: Barzal leads the Islanders in iShots/60 with 9.88, and he has a shooting% of 8.33%. I think it's safe to say his iGoals/60 is sustainable(0.82); or could be expected to improve if you're going by the statistic above.
He's ranked 17th(out of 20) in PDO and on-ice shooting%; so, he's still over 100 with a 101.43 PDO, but that's mainly due to unsustainable goaltending. However, it's also worth noting that Barzal has the worst expected PDO(again, I don't really know how much stock I should put into this number) on the team at 99.36. Maybe he's bleeding scoring chances against? He does have a lot of giveaways, maybe that would attribute to that number?
Barzal has a lot of good numbers regarding his play. He might have one of the most reliable stat lines on the Islanders right now, if you were looking to make projections. I would be worried more about how much the Islanders are going to concede goals when he's out there in the future.
***all stats are even-strength and rankings are in the context of other Islanders skaters***
SI90
Registered User
He's the total package you want in a 1-2 center. Don't sleep on his commitment to the defensive side too. Kids a Gem.
Barzal Beauvillier And Ho-Sang are 3 nice young pieces.
Barzal Beauvillier And Ho-Sang are 3 nice young pieces.
Pure Slaughter Value
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Personally think he only thing that'll keep Barzal from winning the Calder is Clayton Keller. That kid is also a beast (but a goal-scoring beast).
The Winter Soldier
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Though it is not impossible for Barzal to get hotter(7 pts in 7), I think Keller and Sergachev may be tough this year for the Calder. If it does go to a fwd. The vast majority of times the highest scorer wins. Keller is the real deal so it will be interesting if any fwd can close the gap. For me, it is just fun watching Barzal develop as the #2C with the Isles on a contending team. If you ask me, this just ups his value and makes the pick(though no brainer for most at #16OA at that stage of the draft for most) even better.
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I still wonder to this day what made Boston and Dallas overlook Barzal. I probably would even throw in 11 Florida(Crouse) into that discussion
The Winter Soldier
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It's a mystery for sure, and a win fall for the Isles. I had him as the 4th best Center in the 2015 draft and 5th OA. If quality Centers are indeed harder to find. Then this is potentially one of those draft mysteries that people will look back on. I am not surprised by Mathew. Isles took their time, and are now being rewarded for their patience this year. Congrats guys. You have a good one here.
The Winter Soldier
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Barzal now with his 8th point in his last 8 games in a tough last min loss to the Caps last night and has now had points in 7 of his last 8 games.
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