New York Islanders: Boeser and Barzal Debate Was Never Justifiable

New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal just took home the Calder Trophy. The debate of whether it should be him or Brock Boeser was never justifiable.

In a not so surprising turn of events, Mathew Barzal took home the Calder Trophy for the best rookie of the 2017-2018 season. Despite Barzal’s dominant performance this past year, for a lot of the way experts predicted Brock Boeser for the award.

I don’t want this to turn into a hit piece on Brock Boeser. He’s a fantastic player. In 62 games he had 29 goals and 55 points. If he didn’t get hurt, thanks to Cal Clutterbuck, his season would’ve been even better.

On his pace at the time, if he played all 82 games he would’ve had 73 points and 38 goals. That’s a phenomenal season, not just for a rookie but for any player in general. In most years that wins you the Calder Trophy, but even if he put up those numbers it wouldn’t have been enough.

Barzal still would’ve had him beat by 12 points. What you have to do is historically look at both seasons. Boeser’s 38 goals would’ve been fifth all-time in goals for rookies. If he finished with 73 points that would’ve been 39th all-time in points for rookies. Again, impressive stuff, but let’s look at Barzal.

He finished tied for third all-time in Assists with 63. The only other player to do that in their rookie season this millennium is Sidney Crosby. His 85 points put him 17th all-time amongst rookies. So to recap, top-three in assists and top-20 in all-time points as a rookie could not be beat out.

The debate all year long was frustrating in itself because Boeser was a different player than Barzy so it was tough to compare the two. I’m curious to see what the results would’ve looked like if we had a full season of Brock Boeser.

Next: Competition for Barry Trotz?

The Canadian media likely would’ve hopped on that Boeser train right? It’s no longer an issue we have to worry about, thankfully, but the comparison from the jump was a lame one. Barzal was clearly the best rookie last year and he took home the award for it last night. Sorry, Vancouver.