Barzal is BACK!

[Smurf54]

I doubt you'll see any meaningful increase in output even with a more offensive coach... Barzal is a solid 60-70 point guy who overachieved in his rookie year.

I think I see a different player than you do when I watch him play. But only time will tell!

[Belexus75]

I think I see a different player than you do when I watch him play. But only time will tell!

obviously you do....and thats fine:0 but the rest here all seams to be in line...

[lobo1969]

I doubt you'll see any meaningful increase in output even with a more offensive coach... Barzal is a solid 60-70 point guy who overachieved in his rookie year.

100% agree

[stevegamer]

We'll have to see exactly what Barzal can do in a different system.

He's scored 80+ points in a season, so it's definitely possible to do it again at his age, with scoring up a bit around the league. It also possible he did have his career year as a rookie and isn't close to that good again.

He's somebody I'm very willing to take a gamble on in the right format if the cost is right.

[butch]

I doubt you'll see any meaningful increase in output even with a more offensive coach... Barzal is a solid 60-70 point guy who overachieved in his rookie year.

I agree that the base is 60-70 points but if the powerplay assists start to rack up he can flirt with 80-85 again .

He seemed to be really clicking with Dobson down the stretch so that was a nice glass half full observation.

[2014olympicgold]

The yr Barzal had 85pts he had Anders Lee scoring 40g and JT scoring 37g. I dunno if they have that type of offense and Lee is on the team still but that was like 5 seasons ago. Just my thought.

[butch]

The yr Barzal had 85pts he had Anders Lee scoring 40g and JT scoring 37g. I dunno if they have that type of offense and Lee is on the team still but that was like 5 seasons ago. Just my thought.

Leddy was minus 40 ish

[2014olympicgold]

Leddy was minus 40 ish

And Lee was -25, and Bailey -20, and JT who had 84pts was -12.

I just can't see how much better Barzal will be offensively. Maybe he's given more leash to do what he wants, but it'll come at a negative in the overall game. But also, I don't know who he's passing to to rack up assists. For the NYI sake, he better turn into a 35-45g scorer lol.

[Smurf54]

I doubt you'll see any meaningful increase in output even with a more offensive coach... Barzal is a solid 60-70 point guy who overachieved in his rookie year.

The yr Barzal had 85pts he had Anders Lee scoring 40g and JT scoring 37g. I dunno if they have that type of offense and Lee is on the team still but that was like 5 seasons ago. Just my thought.

Normally if a player overachieves in a year, you can see warning signs in their underlying stats. ie. inflated S%, 5 on 5 S%, secondary assists, PDO, IPP, etc. But looking at the underlying numbers, there are no major red flags showing in Barzal's rookie year. Nothing to really support the argument that he got lucky or significantly outperformed what we realistically should have expected.

Obviously he is missing JT, and Barzal is more of a playmaker than a shooter, so he would benefit from playing next to a more talented triggerman. And while Lee is OK in that regards, he's not ideal, and that's still a gap. But with the continued development of Dobson and Wahlstrom (and maybe Raty/Bellows), I am hoping some help may be on the way. But ideally Lou will find a winger who can shoot the puck. It's fair to doubt whether or not he actually will.

[Smurf54]

Leddy was minus 40 ish

Yeah +/- was ugly that year. But beyond team defensive issues, the goaltending was very much subpar. Goaltending has a disproportionate impact on +/-, and luckily for the Islanders, Sorokin is a massive upgrade over the Halak/Greiss tandem from that season.

[Bubba55]

There is definitely uncertainly around a new coach, and the organizational challenges you describe are real (although I am interested to see what Wahlstrom can do). But Barzal was already a -15 this year. And his stat line over the past 4 years has already been an 82gm pace of 63-72 points. So I mean, if that's the floor, it's not really getting any worse. And on the flip side, there is always potential for the situation to improve. And the individual talent is undoubtedly there.

Fortunately in my league we don't track FW's. He's currently my fourth C (behind Matthews, Pettersson, and Hughes). And was ranked 327th in our Yahoo league this year (which made him my worst player, and a drag on my team). But he was ranked 60th last year, and 88th the previous year. So he has and can be reasonably successful in my league structure. Time will tell, but I am hopeful/optimistic that he has brighter days ahead.

I'm also interested to see if this coaching change gets Wahlstrom on track, it sure can't hurt, Wahlstrom was seriously "Trotz .. ed), 7 or 8 minutes a night and a handful of heathy scratches.

[Belexus75]

I'm also interested to see if this coaching change gets Wahlstrom on track, it sure can't hurt, Wahlstrom was seriously "Trotz .. ed), 7 or 8 minutes a night and a handful of heathy scratches.

I can see it helping Wahlstrom way more than Barzal… double icetime is way more valuable than system change imo

[Smurf54]

I'm also interested to see if this coaching change gets Wahlstrom on track, it sure can't hurt, Wahlstrom was seriously "Trotz .. ed), 7 or 8 minutes a night and a handful of heathy scratches.

Totally agree. For a team that desperately needs young offensive talent, they need to give him an opportunity to play and build confidence. And if all he can get is 4th line minutes in the show, he's be better off playing top line minutes in the AHL until he is ready for more. But hopefully he will see more time/opportunity under a new coach.

[RizzeeDizzee]

It's no coincidence that Barzal and Lee both had their best seasons immediately before Barry Trotz arrived. They must feel like prisoners having been paroled. I'm looking at Barzal for 80-90 and Lee for 65. They are going to go nuts. On the other hand, Nelson had never scored at higher than a 46 point pace pre-Trotz and he's a big risk to get pigeonholed into a defensive role, and I wouldn't touch him this season and would be looking to unload him ASAP in keepers.

[Bubba55]

So the Isles go in house and hire Lane Lambert as the Head Coach. I dunno, we'll see. Seldom does such a hiring bring about a completely new system, a system we are hoping is more offence and less defence, but the chances are it's going to be more of the same, Trotz 2.0 with minor tweaks if any.