Can Mathew Barzal handle being the new focus of Islanders’ foes?
The Islanders front office is now run by Lou Lamoriello. The bench is now run by Barry Trotz. But what players will take all the attention on the ice?
Well, rest assured that all eyes will be locked on reigning Calder Trophy winner Mathew Barzal when the season opens Oct. 4 at Carolina. That includes the eyes of the opposing coaches, who now don’t have to worry about shutting down John Tavares and can focus on the 21-year-old center and his dazzling offensive skill.
“I don’t really feel that pressure,” Barzal said Friday after the team’s first day of training camp on the ice at Northwell Health Ice Center on Long Island. “I think we have a lot of good guys here and a good coaching staff. I think it’s going to help myself get better and improve. I obviously have areas I need to improve on. I’m just trying to be a better player every day.”
Barzal is the gem left behind by former general manager Garth Snow, who traded busted pick Griffin Reinhart to the Oilers in a deal that brought back the No. 16 pick in the 2015 draft. Snow used that pick to select Barzal, who made a huge splash in his rookie campaign this past year, leading the team with 85 points (22 goals and 63 assists).
His ability to control the puck at high speeds, and move laterally with ease to draw defenders, was at times astonishing. And it didn’t take long for Trotz to see that up close for himself in the first practice.
“Obviously he’s dynamic, skilled, he’s powerful,” Trotz said. “I think he’s an intelligent young man, and he’s a really intelligent player, especially offensively. You can see he knows how to pull people in, put pucks to space. He doesn’t need a whole lot of room to get through a gap. So he’s got a lot of the elements.
“And to me, he’s got a lot of confidence. He’s got a lot of ability, and I think he wants to be a guy that could carry a big workload.”
Maybe it made things a little easier this past year when Tavares drew the most difficult matchups from opposing teams. But now that Tavares has left for his hometown Maple Leafs, there is a void — both on the ice and in the locker room. Barzal is at least trying to fill the former.
“You hear and read that kind of stuff, but at the end of the day, we have a lot of good veterans here that are going to help bring me along,” Barzal said. “I’m not a guy that’s going to say too much. I’m just going to go out there and work hard and try to be the best player I can be.”
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The assumption is that Barzal is going to be on a top line, presumably with Jordan Eberle. The two of them clicked together and played much of last year on the same unit.
But Trotz wasn’t willing to commit to anything, at least not this early on.
“We are going to have to find the guys that have the ability to step up,” Trotz said. “As a coach, you try to think about what might work. You have some young guys that are going to push for jobs, and you have some older guys that are really solid players. We’re going to have to make sure we make really good decisions so that we have balance.”
Trotz is also going to have to find a way to maximize Barzal’s talent, as he is now the best player on the roster.
“He’s still [21] years old, and he’s still growing and still learning,” Trotz said. “He’s got all the tools, hopefully we just give him all the other stuff to allow him to continue to grow.”
The Islanders hired longtime Lamoriello confidant and Stanley Cup-winning coach Jacques Lemaire to be a “special assignment coach.” He is going to stay for training camp, and then return to the team at different times during the year when Trotz wants to hear from him.
“I think it’s obvious the experience he brings, the knowledge he brings,” Lamoriello said. “He’s a great resource.”
The team also hired the former coach of the Rangers farm team in Hartford, Ken Gernander, to be a scout. Gernander was the head coach of the Wolf Pack from 2007-17.