Mathew Barzal Rookie Season Highlights

There’s still hope for the New York Islanders.

Yes, it’s true they’ve lost some good players to free agency. They lost one of their best defensemen as well as their second-leading scorer from last season. Gone, too, is Garth Snow’s final trade deadline masterpiece. But there’s hope for this team yet, and I say that for one primary reason above all others.

There’s hope because of Mathew Barzal.

Mathew Barzal is the 2017-18 NHL Rookie of the Year. He won the Calder Trophy at the NHL Awards in late June and he did so handily. His 85 points were the most by a rookie in over 10 years and his 63 assists were tied for the third-most by a rookie ever.

To honor his special rookie season, I have updated the detailed highlights video I made back in December of his first 30 games (the most-watched Barzal video on YouTube, I’m proud to say). What follows is 40 minutes detailing Mathew Barzal’s entire rookie season, from start to finish.

And here’s a bonus video showing Barzal’s dominance over the Rangers: 10 points in four games played. This includes Barzal’s first NHL goal on Oct. 19th as well as his five-point game on Jan. 13th, one of the three five-point games he put up as a rookie (a feat last accomplished 100 years ago). Barzal looked particularly dominant in Madison Square Garden, a trend I wouldn’t mind to see continue next season and beyond.

So there you have it. Mathew Barzal had one of the greatest rookie seasons we’ve seen in a long time and we should all be thrilled to have this kid leading the way moving forward.