Sportsnet: "Islanders’ Mathew Barzal: ‘I’d love to play my career on Long Island’

[Sidney the Kidney]

He kind of reminds me of Duchene in a way. For years he underperformed based on the amount of skill and potential he had, Barzal is a much much smarter player though, I fully expect him to have a great year with him playing for a big contract + away from the suffocating Trotz system.

The guy taking over for Trotz has been Trotz's assistant forever. Are we even certain he's going to implement a more offensively oriented system than his mentor's?

 

[CupHolders]

The guy taking over for Trotz has been Trotz's assistant forever. Are we even certain he's going to implement a more offensively oriented system than his mentor's?

Gotta be honest. I hope the Isles DON"T open up the system too much. It's mostly non-Isles fans who seem to have some kind of "thing" about Barzal's production. I would be perfectly fine with Barzal continuing to improve his overall game while only reaching a PPG production. With that scoring coming mostly due to increased production by a Dobson lead Power Play. All while the overall team maintains a top defensive and goaltending unit.

 

[Foppberg]

Gotta be honest. I hope the Isles DON"T open up the system too much. It's mostly non-Isles fans who seem to have some kind of "thing" about Barzal's production. I would be perfectly fine with Barzal continuing to improve his overall game while only reaching a PPG production. With that scoring coming mostly due to increased production by a Dobson lead Power Play. All while the overall team maintains a top defensive and goaltending unit.

I mean if Barzal only gets to PPG... that's awesome. I'm not sure what system you're imaging where people would say 80+ points isn't good enough I don't expect the Islanders to suddenly be the 80s Oilers but I think there'll be a bit more freedom under Lambert than Trotz.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Gotta be honest. I hope the Isles DON"T open up the system too much. It's mostly non-Isles fans who seem to have some kind of "thing" about Barzal's production. I would be perfectly fine with Barzal continuing to improve his overall game while only reaching a PPG production. With that scoring coming mostly due to increased production by a Dobson lead Power Play. All while the overall team maintains a top defensive and goaltending unit.

That's kind of the key though. Barzal at point per game would be worth the money. Barzal producing at his current level would make anything in the $9 million-plus range seem expensive.

 

[DuklaNation]

Barzal is a turnover machine. Can't believe Trotz couldn't reign him in more. Paying him $9M right now is overpayment. Sure he has talent but the results are mediocre.

 

[CupHolders]

I mean if Barzal only gets to PPG... that's awesome. I'm not sure what system you're imaging where people would say 80+ points isn't good enough I don't expect the Islanders to suddenly be the 80s Oilers but I think there'll be a bit more freedom under Lambert than Trotz.

My apologies Foppberg. I wasn't singling you out in anyway when I mentioned people who bring up his production. Mostly I meant it as he is already at ~70 point production rate per 82 games. I think reaching those 12 points should actually be easier than most expect. Provided their PP continues to be better than bottom half of the league. Had they acquired that "one more scorer" than I fully expected PPG to be a foregone conclusion.

With that said, Lambert still is an unknown. But I could also see the offense improving by player usage rather than system change.

 

[seafoam]

The guy taking over for Trotz has been Trotz's assistant forever. Are we even certain he's going to implement a more offensively oriented system than his mentor's?

Lets put it this way, he can’t implement a more defensively oriented system…

Also the defense has been made more mobile and more offensive, which at the very least will improve NYI’s transition game (which was utter dog shit last season).

Barzal is a turnover machine. Can't believe Trotz couldn't reign him in more. Paying him $9M right now is overpayment. Sure he has talent but the results are mediocre.

Luckily his cap hit is less than his actual salary. If Barzal continues to trend on the same path that he did last season, he won’t be able to command much more than Kyrou/Thomas on a long term extension. With the cap hopefully rising soon, 8-8.5M per for Barzal would be fair for both sides without any improvement.

 

[AirGut]

he'll most likely want $9-10M and I don't really blame him. Islanders would give him whatever he wants I'm sure but if they don't have a bounceback season I think he's as good as gone

 

[Foppberg]

My apologies Foppberg. I wasn't singling you out in anyway when I mentioned people who bring up his production. Mostly I meant it as he is already at ~70 point production rate per 82 games. I think reaching those 12 points should actually be easier than most expect. Provided their PP continues to be better than bottom half of the league. Had they acquired that "one more scorer" than I fully expected PPG to be a foregone conclusion.

With that said, Lambert still is an unknown. But I could also see the offense improving by player usage rather than system change.

To be honest now that I think about I'm not totally sure if Trotz was really the issue when it came to his offense. Seems like every time I watched the Islanders and Barzal had the puck nobody could really keep up with him skill/talent wise. So many brilliant plays and passes ending up being flubbed on net. I hope they give Wahlstrom more of a chance this season, he's still a work in progress but his shot and offensive instincts are amazing.

I think Lambert will provide something a bit newer and fresh, but we also need to get Barzal some guys to play with.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

-John Tavares

Islanders better without him at least

 

[NJ DevLolz]

My guess on contract is 8x 8.75


They have upcoming talent, he loves the area.

Top five goalie, top 10 defense locked up.

What talent do they have upcoming? Isles have one of the bleakest futures in the league

 

[Pure Slaughter Value]

What talent do they have upcoming? Isles have one of the bleakest futures in the league

Yeah, we have Rutu and Dufour, otherwise our forwards are a mess systems-wide.

Thankfully the Goaltending and Defense are young and considered top 5, top 10 in the league.

 

[JoeSakic13]

Oh damn, does that mean he’s retiring?

 

[Daves a mess]

Islanders better without him at least

But think of the return they would of gotten if they traded him.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I was wondering what Tyler Kennedy was up to these days

I believe that's Salma Hayek. She's 56 years old.

and still a dime.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Barzal has a lot to prove this year. Right now, he's overrated and barely earning his 7 mil. He's at a crossroads of his career. Are you a franchise center, or not? Can you carry a team? I see PPG potential, don't see him carrying an offense though; he needs skill to potentiate his. Would like to see him with more talent on his wings. Would also like to see him produce more on his own. There are just a lot of question marks with him. Put up another 65 pt season, he doesn't deserve more than 8.

As a Ranger fan, Barzal is underrated if anything and I would jettison a ton of players on NYR in a heartbeat to absorb him at 7M.

He's exactly what the Rangers need

 

[Seph]

he'll most likely want $9-10M and I don't really blame him. Islanders would give him whatever he wants I'm sure but if they don't have a bounceback season I think he's as good as gone

He'll be RFA at the end of the season, so he won't have any particularly good options to leave unless someone offers him a crazy offer sheet the Isles wouldn't match. As long as the Isles are in the right neighborhood with the contract offers, I doubt he'll try to force a trade or go to arbitration.

 

[Sparksrus3]

As a Ranger fan, Barzal is underrated if anything and I would jettison a ton of players on NYR in a heartbeat to absorb him at 7M.

He's exactly what the Rangers need

What would you offer ? Why not ,the thread was getting stale anyway .

 

[BelovedIsles]

It's make or break year for his pay day, for sure. If he is going to command 8.5/9 million, he'll have to produce. The cap is going to go up eventually and you don't want to lose a player like Barzal, but you can't just hand out contracts that high while receiving production that doesn't justify it. There's always the losing the player vs being slightly overpaid argument, but you need better production from him to justify it.

Islanders should be different. I think many non-Islanders fans are in agreement with Islanders fans that he offense will be better utilized with more freedom, whether that takes a slight hit on the backend team defense or not, it probably needs to happen.

Supposedly Lambert is going to open things up, without sacrificing D. We'll see. Barzal still has work to do in the offensive zone though. His decision making is poor; when he should shoot, he curls back, or forces passes. He often plays on the perimeter too much, choosing the Harlem Globetrotter style over doing the simple, *effective things, e.g. drive to the net/slot, shoot. If he could improve his decision making and have some better options on his wing, I see a consistent 90 pt player. A lot has to come together for that.

 

[BelovedIsles]

He kind of reminds me of Duchene in a way. For years he underperformed based on the amount of skill and potential he had, Barzal is a much much smarter player though, I fully expect him to have a great year with him playing for a big contract + away from the suffocating Trotz system.

As I noted in my previous post, his offensive decision making leaves much to be desired. I consider that a core of hockey IQ.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Definitely the first time I'm seeing these quotes from the star 1C of the New York Islanders. Yep, the first time. No other instance comes to mind. I don't know what you're talking about...

He's due for a new contract after this season. Curious to hear what others think his value is.

We get this thread every couple of years when a player makes these comments.

I expect both McDavid and Leon to make the same comments word for word in a couple of years time.


Translation is " I would love to stay as long as they pay me what I want"

 

[TGWL]

My apologies Foppberg. I wasn't singling you out in anyway when I mentioned people who bring up his production. Mostly I meant it as he is already at ~70 point production rate per 82 games. I think reaching those 12 points should actually be easier than most expect. Provided their PP continues to be better than bottom half of the league. Had they acquired that "one more scorer" than I fully expected PPG to be a foregone conclusion.

With that said, Lambert still is an unknown. But I could also see the offense improving by player usage rather than system change.

It's not just powerplay, though. 5 on 5 scoring has been around the bottom 15 over the past 3 seasons. You can add more powerplay points to pump his production a little but I think even adding "one more scorer" you're still looking at potentially opening up the game a little to give the forwards a little more freedom. It's tough to have your cake and eat it to when it comes to being a defensive rock and a much better team scoring goals. You might sacrifice a little team defense and not be as tight defensively as the prior 3 seasons, but as long as you can move the puck well and keep it out of your net, I don't see the problem. Maybe you go from top 5 goals against (5 on 5) over that 3 year span not being a top 10 goals against team. It's ok if you can start putting the puck in the net.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

Tavares said this.
Gaudreau said this.
It's almost better when they say that they want to be paid a boatload of cash.

That's confirmation bias speaking. Our memories aren't primed to notice the dozens of players who have said this and then quietly re-signed with their old teams.

6. The original arena host Jill and her modeling history.

What is this referring to?

 

[miscs75]

That's confirmation bias speaking. Our memories aren't primed to notice the dozens of players who have said this and then quietly re-signed with their old teams.


What is this referring to?

Jill Nicolini - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

Jill Nicolini - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Thank you .