Nope, but that’s because your logic is faulty. He could have been a problem contract going forward, IF he didn’t recover and it looks like his injury impacted his play.
The Isles have 8 seasons of Barzal to know what you have and how it’s working out. Paying $9M to a center that can’t take faceoffs (a critical role of being a center) and the team plays .750 without you…that’s not so ‘special’ of a player.
6 of those seasons were under a defense above all things coach. The statistic you really need to look at is:
Barzal under under Trotz/Lambert: averages 45 points a season
Barzal under any other coach: averages 80 points a season
Trotz was a horrible coach to play under for an offensive minded player. Absolutely horrible. He nearly ruined Barzal's career. Probably ruined Wahlstroms. Forget Ho-Sang he didn't even get a shot.
Look I get it. Two ECF's is fun to watch but its not a Stanley Cup, nor is it even making the championship finals. Thinking that's some sort of success is a loser mentality. As Roy would sarcastically say,
"Oh you made the ECF, big cheer". I'll give him some points and respect for getting the team that far but it was at TOO much of a cost for this team psyche and Roy is working and night and day to reverse the damage that was done. The team has to learn how to play simple hockey again and most importantly how to go on the offense again. It's a game of scoring points. Its a game of skating and moving forwards NOT backwards! You watch his drills and that's what he's doing. It's all about skating and attacking.
And I absolutely love the move he made in bringing up Isaiah George. He brings up a 20 year old kid unstymied by backwards coaching- the only player who was not coached at all under the Trotz/Lambert and he makes him a model for the rest of the team to watch by given lots of minutes even critical minutes. He says, look, here's a kid who keeps just takes off as soon as he has the puck in his possession and is not afraid to take chances. He uses his natural instincts and athleticism to make things happen. Roy is just brilliant. Just watch this kid and see how simple the game can be. Just move your damn feet and head towards the net.
The problem with this team was coaching, not the players. It's a team sport. The team is guided by a system. They were clearly playing under a system that completely hobbled each individual's natural scoring instincts. Under Roy this mindset will change. He needs to change the mindset of this team. Retreating and playing on our heels because we think we are not good enough to compete is a loser mentality but that is what Trotz said this team was. He said the defense was not as bad as they thought it was and the offense was not as good as they thought it was so we are going to sit back and retreat as soon as we get a small lead then hang on for dear life. It was too much of a loser mentality and they got hammered with this mentality for 6 years.
The team has to believe in itself. It will just take a little more time, but they will make the playoffs and who knows where they go from there. Roy thinks like a champion because he
IS a champion and has personally led those teams to
win MANY championships. I trust this guy. Accepting 2 ECF as some form success is a loser mentality. We should expect more from this team as I am sure Roy is thinking the same.
You watch this video and you will understand how a champion thinks:
