Mathew Barzal’s dream came true Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
The Coquitlam centreman, who just finished his first season with the New York Islanders, didn’t hit a jackpot on the slots, but he did claim a sizeable chunk of silver when he was awarded the Calder Trophy as the National Hockey League’s top rookie.
Barzal scored 22 goals and added 63 assists to lead all first-year players in league scoring last season.
Vancouver Canucks’ sniper Brock Boeser finished second in the voting.
After receiving his award, Barzal said the hardware was always a goal of his after the Islanders selected him 16th overall in the 2015 NHL entry draft.
“Right from the start, if you’re a rookie, that should be your goal,” he said.
Barzal, who last year led his junior team, the Seattle Thunderbirds, to a Western Hockey League championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup, got his NHL career off to a slow start. He played only two games in his first attempt to crack the Islanders’ lineup two seasons ago before he was sent back to his junior team, and this past season it took him seven games to score his first goal.
But once Barzal started scoring points, he didn’t let up. Three times he got five of them in a single game, the first time that’s been accomplished by a first-year NHL player in 100 years.
And while his offensive prowess and deft skating couldn’t help the Islanders secure a playoff spot, a wholesale shakeup of the team’s management — including the hiring Thursday of Barry Trotz as the team’s new head coach just a week after he guided the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup — bodes well for the future, Barzal said.
“I think it’s nothing but uphill for us,” he said. “We’re going to be excited for next year to come and to go for the playoffs.”
