The New York Islanders signed restricted free agent center Mathew Barzal to a three-year contract extension worth $21 million, with an AAV of $7 million per season. The contract carries Barzal through the 2022-23 season.
Barzal is 3×7
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 9, 2021
New York Islanders Re-Sign Mathew Barzal
In his three full seasons with the Islanders, he has put up 59 goals and 148 assists for 207 career points in 234 career games. He was originally drafted in the first round, 16th overall of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Islanders.
Barzal produced the most offensively in the regular season of his rookie year. He scored 22 goals and added 63 assists for 85 points in 82 games. The Islanders missed the playoffs, but Barzal won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year.
Last season he scored 19 goals and 41 assists for 60 points in 68 games. He added 44 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 51.4 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of 6.6.
He also helped lead the Islanders to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since the 1992-93 season. In 22 playoff games, he scored five goals and 12 assists for 17 points. He also had 10 minutes in penalties. While the Islanders were disappointed to lose in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was still an improvement on previous seasons.
What This Means for the Future
Barzal led the Islanders in points with 60 and assists with 41 last regular season. He was third on the team in goals with 19 behind Brock Nelson and captain Anders Lee. In the playoffs, he was third on the team in points, second in assists and fifth in goals. Clearly, Barzal was a crucial part of the Islanders success last season, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. The Islanders depend on the top-line center to produce offensively almost every night and now that he is re-signed, they can begin to focus on next season.
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