Sheesh looking at his comments now, it looks like Barzal f***ing hated Lane lol. I’m sure he wasn’t alone too.
No I don't think he liked either of those two. The conversation Trotz had with the media when the Isles visited Nashville pretty much said it all. He made some comment like Barzal might not have appreciated what he was being told while he (Trotz) was there and then proceeded to say look how good he is doing now. With both of these two gone he's sending out clues about what he really thought of their hockey.
From Hockey News today:
"I feel very comfortable on the ice," Barzal told The Hockey News. "[I feel like I can] just allow my instincts to play in, and that's just not even in the offensive zone. That's just all over the ice.
"And when I feel that, I want to backcheck, I want to strip guys, I want to do that kind of stuff. It's Patrick Roy, man. I want to show him that I can play hockey."
Straight out of the horses mouth. Love it! That's a direct criticism aimed at Trotz because Trotz made it a point to tell the media that when Barzal was on the offensive side of the ice he would let him do what he wanted to do but when the other team had possession and they were on defense he wanted Barzal to do what he wanted him to do. I think Barzy was taken a little back by that statement. Let him vent. He's been such a good soldier.