New York Islanders: Stanley Cup Playoffs Profile, Mathew Barzal

The New York Islanders have punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and perhaps no player will be more exciting to watch than Mathew Barzal. Here is his playoff profile.

The New York Islanders have been very lucky to have Mathew Barzal the last two seasons for he is on the cusp of leading them in points for the second straight season. However, this time around it is even better because the team in the playoffs and “Barzy” get to shine on hockey’s biggest stage.

For Barzal, it will be his first time ever playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For the Islanders, it will be their first time in two seasons. The correlation is simple, if the Islanders don’t want their return to be short-lived, then they will need Barzal to be able to handle his debut on the big stage.

But, I have little doubt that he won’t be able to handle the biggest stage. Barzal has played in 163 games and has 147 points. Both of those numbers can go up by the time the Isles actually get to their first round matchup.

But, those stats hardly matter, no matter how impressive they are. We have no idea how Mathew Barzal will do in the NHL playoffs because he has never played in them. Much of the this Islanders team has, that is interesting if nothing else.

However, just because he has never played in the playoffs does not mean he will not be prepared. One, he is a talented player. You can’t teach talent. Two, he is still familiar with the big stage. He knows how to get it done.

Just earlier this season, which the most recent example is probably the best, Barzal notched a hat trick in Toronto. The first game against the Maple Leafs and their former captain, at that point, was the biggest game of the year for the Islanders and Barzal put on a clinic.

Also, Barzal was named an All-Star this season and played in the NHL All-Star game. The Stanley Cup playoffs is no All-Star game, but if you consider the fact that the All-Star game is the only thing all NHL fans from around the world watch and follow on a global stage, then they are similar. In that, Barzal scored two goals, notched three assists, and banked five points in a win for the Metro Division. I would say he passed his first “big-stage” test with flying colors.

But, the most interesting about Barzal in the playoffs is that we must throw it back for this one. Not enough NHL experience to be able to tell a story,. But, what is reflective of Barzal’s talent and apparent clutchness is this.

According to NHL.com, on Barzal’s player page, under his bio, here is what they had to say about him as he was coming through the ranks:

"“Barzal was MVP of the WHL playoffs in 2017 after finishing with 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 16 games, helping Seattle win the league championship for the first time. He was also the WHL’s Western Conference Player of the Year after finishing with 79 points (10 goals, 69 assists) in 41 regular-season games.”"

So, I know that hockey is similar to baseball in the sense that what happens in the minor leagues does not directly correlate to what will happen in the big leagues, but to be the best player on a team in the NHL playoffs, you should want to be encouraged by the fact he was that great in a helping a team win a Championship, it still counts.

Overall in the WHL playoffs, Barzal has played in 49 games with 17 goals and 48 assists. That averages out to over a point per game in his most recent professional playoff experience.

So, he has played in the playoffs before. When you consider how fast Barzal has risen to stardom, it makes sense that he impressed in such a small sample size in the minors.

I think Mathew Barzal is poised to do exactly what we all think he will do in the playoffs. He has proven to be clutch and stepped up on the biggest stages in all leagues he has recently played in.

This season, he is set to led the team in points again and has manned the top line for much of the season, perhaps one of the hardest jobs in hockey is a top-line center. If the Isles continue to fire all cylinders and then get extra production from Barzal, then I would not want to be in the Islanders’ way in the first few rounds.

Stay tuned right here for I will be doing a playoff profile on many other Islanders players throughout the course of the week.