New York Islanders Mathew Barzal No Regression in 2018-19

New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal didn’t rank as high in some rankings due to the potential for a sophomore slump. One analyst shows he’s not going to regress.

With his 85 points in the 2017-18 season, New York Islanders rookie Mathew Barzal finished as the 16th best scorer in the NHL. He earned a ton of a attention around the league for his play and was rewarded with the 2018 Calder trophy as the league’s top rookie.

On the class of first-year pros at the NHL level, Barzal stood head and shoulders over the rest. But we now move on to year two. Will Barzal continue to be the same player he was in year one?

We all hope he can be. There’s no real reason he can’t after all. Sure Tavares is gone. But it’s not like Tavares was solely responsible for Barzal’s production. I agreed with TVA Sport’s Alexandre Parent that Barzal could hit the 100 point mark in 2018-19.

According to Dom Luszczyszyn’s projections, that was a little generous on my part.

Fits In Top 10

Don projects that Barzal can net 24 goals and add 60 assists for 84 points in 2018-19. That projection has Mathew Barzal as the ninth highest goal scorer in the NHL next season.

Note that a certain pajama wearing individual is not listed. Giving that nod to Barzal feel all that much better.

I understand that 84 is less than 85, but a single point difference is a marginal spread in this sort of analysis. Essentially what this projection shows is that Mathew Barzal will not regress in 2018-19. And again, why would he?

He’ll be surrounded by the exact same players when it comes to 5on5, where Barzal scored 68 percent of his points. Including Jordan Eberle and an Anthony Beauvillier that turned into a 60 point player as he sat on Barzal’s wing for half a season in 2017-18.

If it doesn’t work with Beauvillier, for whatever reason, Barry Trotz can toss 40 goal scorer Anders Lee next to Barzal instead. That’s the backup plan for Mathew Barzal this season.

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I know that we as New York Islanders fans weren’t worried about Mathew Barzal’s potential to stave off the dreaded sophomore slump. But this is more for those outside of the Isles fan base who held reservations.