There have been moments in each game so far where Barzal has shown his potential with the puck, which is immense. Points will come. He's too good and he 's playing well. He's still adapting to the NHL speed, size and strength, and he's only played 6 pro games. And despite all that, there have been moments where you just go 'wow' - because he's doing things only a handful of NHL'ers do, his vision is great, and his puck handling is beautiful. I know people always like his skating, but against NHL'ers he still looks like one of the best out on the ice.
He's also showing toughness imo. He got rocked by that hit last night (Bieksa?) and came back into the game. The reason he got hit is that he was driving the slot to get a shot attempt off. That's the most dangerous place on the ice. You're gonna get hit. And when he came back, he was still driving to the net. This was a criticism those of us who watched him in junior had, that he needed to be less of a periphery player. So, this is a very strong sign to me.
Still has a ways to go to adapting some things you get away with in junior, off the puck and defensively, but he's a super smart kid, very coachable, it will just take some time.
