Coquitlam’s Matthew Barzal didn’t let the disappointment of not cracking the New York Islanders’ lineup ruin his season. Instead the centreman scored 79 points in 41 games when he was returned to his junior team, the Seattle Thunderbirds. He’s also the nominee from the Western Conference for the Western Hockey League’s Player of the Year award.
Barzal, who was drafted 16th overall by the Islanders in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, saw action in two regular season games with the big-league club after an impressive training camp and pre-season.
“I thought training camp went really well,” Barzal told ESPN Radio in Seattle at the time. “I… started to get really comfortable with the speed and size and physicality of the players.”
But after six weeks of riding the bench and practicing, it became apparent the Islanders were already too deep with young talent at his position. He was sent back to the Thunderbirds, who were happy to have the 19-year-old back. Floundering with with a .500 record at the time, Seattle finished the season with 98 points and will be playing the Regina Pats for the WHL championship beginning Friday.
Barzal’s 1.93 point-per-game scoring pace was good enough for third place in the WHL and came despite missing chunks of action while he represented Canada at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship and a bout with mumps late in the season that kept him out of the first round of the playoffs..
