[EXTENDED] Barzal 8x9.15

[pmorrow]

Barzal and the Isles agree to a long term deal

https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/...37111803576321

[2014olympicgold]

I can't say I'm a big fan of Barzal. But good for the Islanders for paying up for their center piece, they would have fallen pretty far behind if he had left.

He'll be 34 when the deals done. So he's pretty much on his final contract of his NHL career. Might be able to get another one, but nothing long.

[tweetdrivr]

Cha-Ching…

[niconasr]

Love the guy and the player. Not sure he's worth that much considering his last few years but I feel like he can definitely be worth that much and will be fun to see him under a new coach.

[saucelife90]

Solid signing all around.

[Belexus75]

about 2-3 mil too much for what he brings...

[Feenom]

I think it’s great for him and a tad too much for the Isles.

[Canucks_fan18]

I think he will shine offensively again and people will see him closer to be worth this contract. With that being said high 7's/low 8's is probably where it should of been.

[SeaDawg]

Funny thing to say, but I think Barzal is a bit of an underrated player reading some of the comments here. He's a #1 center on most NHL teams. Unfortunately he's figuratively (and I suppose literally) on an island in New York. Without a better supporting cast (and prior to this season a coach that stifled the offense), his numbers don't line-up with this contract. That said, he deserves to be paid like a #1 center.

[2014olympicgold]

I think he will shine offensively again and people will see him closer to be worth this contract. With that being said high 7's/low 8's is probably where it should of been.

Outside of his one yr, he has scored 226pts in 278games (66.67pts/82games). So we have to ask, is Barzal a 60-70pt forward, with the rare PPG season we see him as? Or is there more to it?

I think we've seen enough where we know his game, it might open up more and he might be a 20-25g, 40-50a, 60-75pt guy and end up on the high side of that projection. But then he then likely becomes a liability on the defensive side.

Then there's the faceoff situation. Guy can't be depended on as a faceoff guy, and in that case, that's hard to have as a 9m center. Someone who can't be the guy on the draw in the final minute, or on a PK. It's just...he's left so much for us to want, and hasn't shown he's worth much. Get him an offensive player to play with and I think we see him jump up. He can't do it on his own.

[Pengwin7]

Somewhere Dylan Larkin is doing some fist pumps.

[Axeman33]

Ooof!

[RizzeeDizzee]

Barzal is a superb talent who has been squandered. In the last 30 years there have been three centers who had 85+ points in a season by age 20 - Malkin, Crosby, and Barzal. It's no coincidence that he hasn't tasted success since the season Trotz took over. And while Lambert is supposedly a Trotz clone, he's no dummy and realizes what Trotz did last season didn't work, and will allow players like Barzal to play a more wide open game, plus surround him with better players on the PP, especially some of the youngsters. I think this is a reasonable signing given what Barzal is likely to do now that Trotz is gone.

[lobo1969]

Barzal is a superb talent who has been squandered. In the last 30 years there have been three centers who had 85+ points in a season by age 20 - Malkin, Crosby, and Barzal. It's no coincidence that he hasn't tasted success since the season Trotz took over. And while Lambert is supposedly a Trotz clone, he's no dummy and realizes what Trotz did last season didn't work, and will allow players like Barzal to play a more wide open game, plus surround him with better players on the PP, especially some of the youngsters. I think this is a reasonable signing given what Barzal is likely to do now that Trotz is gone.

Malkin didn't enter the NHL until he was 21. McDavid had a 100pts the year he turned 20.


As for Barzal, the 85+ pt season won't be the future norm. I see him as a consistent 65-75 pt guy and I always projected him this way even after his rookie season. A coaching change, but a lack of upgrades in supporting players, has not given me any reason to project things differently. Today's signing is no future bargain for NYI but it probably won't a major cap crushing anchor either.

[butch]

I thought it would be anywhere from 8.75 to 9.5

Pretty sure the team and player agent factor in the defensive minded philosophy the team employs when they negotiated this deal over the last 60 days .

the 85 point calder season under doug weight had the isles playing pond hockey . barzal had at least 2 x 5 point games that year and nik leddy was almost -50