Player Discussion: Mathew Barzal

[steveat]

The thing with Barzal is that his games where is didn't manage to score a point were games that the ENTIRE team was playing like garbage.

If we fix our Matinee Meltdowns, he could easily get more than 100 points.

 

[PWJunior]

Barzal is going to regress this year... MY ASS.

 

[SI90]

Barzal is going to regress this year... MY ASS.

I saw this yesterday got excited. In all the categories he’s surrounded by elite players.

 

[PWJunior]

I saw this yesterday got excited. In all the categories he’s surrounded by elite players.

He is a puck possession beast and the stats back it up. He is a franchise level talent and we got him at 16th overall. One of the highest butt hurt quotient players in the league as a result.

I like that the NHLN guys dispel some of the myths about him. He is not a train wreck defensively and he wasn't really sheltered by Weight last year. As Johnston said, the stats suggest his production is sustainable and likely to increase.

Barzal will be at least PPG and I think he takes another step into the 90's this year. I expect him to be a serious Hart and Art Ross contender in 2019-2020 when he'll be in his magical 3rd NHL season where young stars usually break out. He'll be a threat for 100 points if the talent around him develops with him.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Barzal is going to regress this year... MY ASS.

That's the most aggressive I've seen Brock Nelson in that clip when he got tackled to the ice by Barzal after the goal and starting slapping him on the head.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I was trying to remember who Barzal reminded me of, and then I remembered it was myself in Create-A-Player mode when I bumped up my acceleration and the turbo button allowed me to go faster than the defense.

I was a better goal scorer than him, though.

 

[SI90]

I was trying to remember who Barzal reminded me of, and then I remembered it was myself in Create-A-Player mode when I bumped up my acceleration and the turbo button allowed me to go faster than the defense.

I was a better goal scorer than him, though.

Haha

The elite skaters will always have a chance to be successful in today’s nhl. The combination of elite skating and skill is what makes the McDavids and Barzals so special and successful.

If Barzal can start scoring more goals he’s definitely a threat to score 90+ points.

I see him comfortably as a 20-60-80 guy give or take.

 

[mm11]

As a NYI fan its very hard to contain the excitement I have for #13 as a player. The kid was awesome last year from day one. Even from the 1st 5 scoreless games he was creating chances left and right. Here is to a 10-15 year career in a NYI sweater. Watch clips of Stevie Y as a rookie. Fast forward 30 years or so and it appears Barzal is a clone. Thank you NHL brass for letting this kid slip to #16 in 2015...

 

[buud]

aside from Barzy's skill and speed, i LOVE that he has character. he is all over the place, trying all these new things, really enjoying life. it's almost like the infectiousness of a young child, eyes wide open, laughing and having fun, even with the simplest of things.

JT always seemed too generic for me. i never got that feeling that he was all about the team. his monotone, parroted responses, left me feeling almost sedated. i am not critical of JT, just because he left us. i appreciate all that he did, but he never seemed to put 100% of his heart into it.

a comparison that i think is good, is Denis Savard.



sign Barzal to a 20 year contract, and let's move forward...

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I have long searched for a comparable for Mathew Barzal, and no player comes to mind. He is truly unique among players. Elite skater, playmaker, and capable of making players around him better. Add on zone entries and outstanding possession metrics as he Rel Corsi is one of the best in the NHL. Quite the extraordinary talent. The only area that I want to see him improve is goal scoring. I don't think he will ever be a 40-50 goal scorer. He is too unselfish a player to score 40-50. But I can certainly see 30 goals, 70 assists one year.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I have long searched for a comparable for Mathew Barzal, and no player comes to mind. He is truly unique among players. Elite skater, playmaker, and capable of making players around him better. Add on zone entries and outstanding possession metrics as he Rel Corsi is one of the best in the NHL. Quite the extraordinary talent. The only area that I want to see him improve is goal scoring. I don't think he will ever be a 40-50 goal scorer. He is too unselfish a player to score 40-50. But I can certainly see 30 goals, 70 assists one year.

Not comparing actual play styles, but I could see Barzal having Giroux-like stat lines for most of his career.

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

Not comparing actual play styles, but I could see Barzal having Giroux-like stat lines for most of his career.

You mean that same Giroux guy that all Islander fans have always agreed was better than a certain #91?

I think we'll take those statistics.

 

[sabremike]

You mean that same Giroux guy that all Islander fans have always agreed was better than a certain #91?

I think we'll take those statistics.

Giroux was never better than Butchie, come on now!!!

 

[doublechili]

Think about what Trotz said about wanting quality scoring chances over quantity scoring chances and working for good chances rather than just throwing shots at the net. Barzal plays the style Trotz likes.

 

[doublechili]

The combination of elite skating and skill is what makes the McDavids and Barzals so special and successful.

I'm looking forward to Barzal making the guy that won July 1st look like a pylon in a 3 on 3 OT game.

 

[BelovedIsles]

Yeah. I don’t see Barzal regressing. They are stereotyping him bc a) he had a historic rookie year, so conceivably he’s likely to regress, b) the JT sheltering theory, which has been debunked.

He’s going to get more opportunities this year, he’ll be more developed as a player, that should compensate for the increase in defensive focus on him. His points may drop a bit, and he may be shadowed better, but that’s not regression.

 

[PWJunior]

Yeah. I don’t see Barzal regressing. They are stereotyping him bc a) he had a historic rookie year, so conceivably he’s likely to regress, b) the JT sheltering theory, which has been debunked.

He’s going to get more opportunities this year, he’ll be more developed as a player, that should compensate for the increase in defensive focus on him. His points may drop a bit, and he may be shadowed better, but that’s not regression.

Barzal showed how special he was last year, players of his ilk will get better and not go down the tubes like the butt hurt fans hope he will.

Barzal will leave no doubt that he is the new tip of the sword for the Isles and he's as sharp as a 15th century katana forged by Masamune... minus the curse on the blade.

 

[buud]

Barzal showed how special he was last year, players of his ilk will get better and not go down the tubes like the butt hurt fans hope he will.

Barzal will leave no doubt that he is the new tip of the sword for the Isles and he's as sharp as a 15th century katana forged by Masamune... minus the curse on the blade.

you a writer?

 

[CupHolders]

Islanders are the only team with two players on that list. Additionally, Ho-Sang has been statistically elite in zone entries.

While stats can easily be cherry picked... It just seems that the Islanders have consistently had players who are exceptional at certain aspects of the game... yet the team can never put it together past mediocre.

Here's hoping to it being a product of coaching...

 

[scott99]

As a NYI fan its very hard to contain the excitement I have for #13 as a player. The kid was awesome last year from day one. Even from the 1st 5 scoreless games he was creating chances left and right. Here is to a 10-15 year career in a NYI sweater. Watch clips of Stevie Y as a rookie. Fast forward 30 years or so and it appears Barzal is a clone. Thank you NHL brass for letting this kid slip to #16 in 2015...

I do see some Stevie Y in Barzal, I also see some Denis Savard, and some Sidney Crosby.

 

[sabremike]

Barzal showed how special he was last year, players of his ilk will get better and not go down the tubes like the butt hurt fans hope he will.

Barzal will leave no doubt that he is the new tip of the sword for the Isles and he's as sharp as a 15th century katana forged by Masamune... minus the curse on the blade.

Fun fact: Sabres legend Taro Tsujimoto was drafted while playing for the Tokyo Katanas (Japan's most successful hockey team).

 

[varano]

Haha

The elite skaters will always have a chance to be successful in today’s nhl. The combination of elite skating and skill is what makes the McDavids and Barzals so special and successful.

If Barzal can start scoring more goals he’s definitely a threat to score 90+ points.

I see him comfortably as a 20-60-80 guy give or take.

I could see that as well. Barzal is one of the more exciting players i've seen in a while and seemed
like he was more comfortable as the season goes on.

 

[scott99]

aside from Barzy's skill and speed, i LOVE that he has character. he is all over the place, trying all these new things, really enjoying life. it's almost like the infectiousness of a young child, eyes wide open, laughing and having fun, even with the simplest of things.

JT always seemed too generic for me. i never got that feeling that he was all about the team. his monotone, parroted responses, left me feeling almost sedated. i am not critical of JT, just because he left us. i appreciate all that he did, but he never seemed to put 100% of his heart into it.

a comparison that i think is good, is Denis Savard.


sign Barzal to a 20 year contract, and let's move forward...

Wow, after seeing this, I do see a ton of Denis Savard in Barzal. That change of direction, edgework, even the excellent backhand. BTW, there's an excellent Barzal video that's about 14 minutes long on Youtube highlighting his rookie season. There's a decent amount of highlights where he doesn't score, but sets up some great chances. But watch his change of direction, so similar to Savard's. Reason I compared him to Crosby as well, is because he's tough to take the puck away from, hence the puck possession stats. Also, he's very strong for his size like Crosby.

 

[YearlyLottery]

Barzal showed how special he was last year, players of his ilk will get better and not go down the tubes like the butt hurt fans hope he will.

Barzal will leave no doubt that he is the new tip of the sword for the Isles and he's as sharp as a 15th century katana forged by Masamune... minus the curse on the blade.

Barzal went through this weird portion of the season with Islander fans where we went:

1.) wow he's pretty good, hopefully he keeps it up.

2.) this guy is going to be a great second line center to Tavares

3.) and then we had this portion of the season where some of us were thinking he actually is BETTER than Tavares.

Don't get me wrong, they are two totally different players, but Barzal is all about where this game is going. The slower skating players are not where this game is heading towards. People on here tend to forget just how highly touted he was going into his draft year before an off ice injury ruined his season. This is a guy who most likely would've been a top five pick and the only reason he would not have been the #1 forward was because of how highly touted and ready McDavid and Eichel were.

If I had to nitpick on Barzal it would be that I would like the shot to get a bit faster, but the thing is with how fast he is and how accurate a passer he is he finds space to get a shot off all the time.

Going from Capuano and Weight to Trotz is going to do wonders for Barzal. Trotz has had players go through slumps and had players take on bigger roles than before, he has EXPERIENCE dealing with situations such as this. Barzal will be fine this season no matter how bad the team does. It may take him a little while to get used to playing top defenses all the time, but he will get used to it because of his immense skill set.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Barzal showed how special he was last year, players of his ilk will get better and not go down the tubes like the butt hurt fans hope he will.

Barzal will leave no doubt that he is the new tip of the sword for the Isles and he's as sharp as a 15th century katana forged by Masamune... minus the curse on the blade.

Butt hurt is accurate and succinct. And it is only going to get worse for those that want to see him fail.

It's going to be fun and rewarding watching Barzal for the next decade.