C Mathew Barzal - Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL (2015, 16th, NYI)

[Darth Milbury]

Barzal doesn't need to grow into his body the way that Dal Colle does.

He is like ant man. Size of an ant with the strength of a normal human.

 

[rockhouse15]

He is like ant man. Size of an ant with the strength of a normal human.

Geez size of an ant? Barzal and I are the same height and weight. Even in NHL terms that's not that small.

 

[PWJunior]

Geez size of an ant? Barzal and I are the same height and weight. Even in NHL terms that's not that small.

It's alright bro, it's not the size that matters... it's the motion of the ocean.

 

[rockhouse15]

It's alright bro, it's not the size that matters... it's the motion of the ocean.

Walked right into that one

 

[91Stammer*]

Happy to see this guy doing well. Definitely one of my favorite prospects from this draft.

 

[Felix Unger]

He is like ant man. Size of an ant with the strength of a normal human.

What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall for one of your dates when you say something like this...

 

[Darth Milbury]

Geez size of an ant? Barzal and I are the same height and weight. Even in NHL terms that's not that small.

Relax, I was just fooling around.


175 is very small in NHL terms though. I played at that weight in college (and, no we're not talking Division I, club hockey) and I was definitely smaller than most of the other players (and also a lot less skilled!).

 

[Darth Milbury]

What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall for one of your dates when you say something like this...

Don't you mean ant on the wall?

 

[rockhouse15]

Relax, I was just fooling around.


175 is very small in NHL terms though. I played at that weight in college (and, no we're not talking Division I, club hockey) and I was definitely smaller than most of the other players (and also a lot less skilled!).

Ehh not to worried about his weight at the moment. Strome was basically the same size at that age. Now he's listed at 199. If Barzal is the workout warrior people say he is I'm confident he will be around 195 in the next few years.

 

[WangMustGo]

Barzal was silky smooth tonight. The kid has great hands, his acceleration and skating is NHL ready, and his vision is really good. He is very agile and full of confidence. He reminded me of a mix between Patrick Kane and Backstrom.

 

[SLAPSHOT723]

He was amazing tonight. So shifty, I love the way he moves on the ice. Extremely creative and skilled.

 

[Zaddy]

Man, I'm really looking forward to watching Barzal this year. I was very skeptical of him last year but after he came back from his knee injury he was just magical and he skyrocketed up my personal rankings. I'm very keen to see if he can keep that level of play up during this year. If he does, I think more than one team will regret passing on him.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Still can't believe Sweeney passed on this guy for a 2nd pairing D and two grinders.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

Still can't believe Sweeney passed on this guy for a 2nd pairing D and two grinders.

It was pretty surprising.

 

[Felix Unger]

Man, I'm really looking forward to watching Barzal this year. I was very skeptical of him last year but after he came back from his knee injury he was just magical and he skyrocketed up my personal rankings. I'm very keen to see if he can keep that level of play up during this year. If he does, I think more than one team will regret passing on him.

It's very difficult for anyone like me to say, because I haven't seen any of the other players... But it's hard to believe that a player of this obvious quality lasted that long. It certainly balances out the fact that Dal Colle has been so lackluster.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Barzal was silky smooth tonight. The kid has great hands, his acceleration and skating is NHL ready, and his vision is really good. He is very agile and full of confidence. He reminded me of a mix between Patrick Kane and Backstrom.

Good comparison. I see a lot of Marc Savard in his game. He has the patience, hands, vision, and skating of an elite playmaker.

Is there any chance he makes the team?

 

[seafoam]

It's very difficult for anyone like me to say, because I haven't seen any of the other players... But it's hard to believe that a player of this obvious quality lasted that long. It certainly balances out the fact that Dal Colle has been so lackluster.

Well Barzal's skating is NHL ready and will be above average in the NHL one day, while Dal Colle's skating is not NHL ready and will probably not be above average in the NHL.

 

[seafoam]

Good comparison. I see a lot of Marc Savard in his game. He has the patience, hands, vision, and skating of an elite playmaker.

Is there any chance he makes the team?

Nope, there's just too much of a logjam up front this year.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Barzal survived the latest round of cuts this morning.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Nope, there's just too much of a logjam up front this year.

What do you make of him surviving last Beauvillier? Has Barzal been noticeably better?

 

[seafoam]

What do you make of him surviving last Beauvillier? Has Barzal been noticeably better?

Beauvillier handled the speed of the NHL game well and wasn't shying away from going to the dirty areas despite his lack of size, but he needs a ton of physical maturing to do. Barzal's not physically mature by any means either, but his lower body strength is much more developed compared to Beauvillier's and it has allowed him to beat NHL players on occasion, while Beauvillier was getting smothered up most of the time.

 

[SLAPSHOT723]

Good comparison. I see a lot of Marc Savard in his game. He has the patience, hands, vision, and skating of an elite playmaker.

Is there any chance he makes the team?

He's not NHL ready, but if he was drafted by a bad team with really poor center depth, he might have made that team.

 

[tealhockey]

Went to the Isles game last night, looked really good with MDC and Petrov on his line. Carried the puck a lot and super effective.

 

[Darth Milbury]

Yup, once he fills out a bit and maybe learns to shoot a more, Barzal's going to be fantastic.

 

[Felix Unger]

All this was, we think, is a reward. It's pretty obvious that NYI did this because he was the top young player in camp. It's possible they may keep him on the roster for a few days into the regular season to give him some spending cash + a window (from the press box) about what NHL hockey is all about.

I think this was a bit of a message to MDC. Not so much to Beauvillier - they praised him effusively. He's just not physically ready.