I'm not saying you're wrong, .
He's wrong. His entire narrative of Weight picking on Barzal while Trotz was easier on him is exactly the opposite of what happened. After a huge rookie year under Weight whereby Weight let him freelance, Trotz brought discipline to his game, made him earn ice, wouldn't play him in some defensive situations, wouldn't let him take key faceoffs in the D zone, etc...
This is just one of the articles going around from that time with Trotz discussing how he needed to get better.
https://nypost.com/2018/11/01/mathew-barzals-struggles-are-real-predictable-and-costly/
“I would say it’s been erratic for him,” first-year Islanders coach Barry Trotz said before Thursday night’s match against the Penguins at Barclays Center. “One of the things that happens when you have a great first season — and I talked to Mathew [about this] even in the summer — it’s not going to be as easy. And he’s finding it’s not. Trust me, he’s trying.
“He wants to be one of the leaders of the team. I think obviously with Johnny moving on to Toronto, he feels that he has to fill a bigger void. One of the dangers is that he’s trying to fill that bigger void and I’m trying to tell him just play the right way. You’re a good player. Know the protocols, do all those things. With the way we play, we’re going to have enough. We have other people that will fill those voids collectively.”
"Just getting him to understand to play the right way, play it hard and don’t get jammed up with whatever decision I make,” Trotz said. “Whether you’re on the ice or not on the ice, how it’s going, how productive or non-productive you are — all those things — just play. Just play and play the right way and you’ll be productive and we’ll win.”
“I know in junior, I had the same adjustment, coming into a coach that made me detailed, made me hard on battles and made me a complete player,” Barzal said. “At the end of the day, we won. It’s tough playing the right way all the time, but it’s the only way you win. I want to win here, that’s my goal. The quicker I can make the adjustment into Barry’s system, where everything is predictable, then it’s going to be exciting because this team has a lot of potential.”
Now getting all the first-line matchups that Tavares got this past season, Barzal needs to play at both ends of the rink in order for the team to be successful. He knows that, and it’s something Trotz is trying to help him establish.
“Once he gets all those things locked in, he’s going to be a tremendous player, a two-way player,” Trotz said. “My goal is to make him an elite two-way player in the National Hockey League, not just an elite talent. There’s a big difference between those two.”
