Player Discussion: Mathew Barzal

[Rehabguy]

Tavares was our #1 pick and was supposed to be the face of this franchise until he decided to dubiously leave the team. The team never got the assets in return it should have if he was traded instead. That’s partly why we the holes we have in our prospect pool but to blame Barzal our 15th pick and currently our best playmaking forward for any struggles this team may have is misplaced. He wasn’t our team's franchise player and shouldn’t shoulder that burden or blame. Right now he’s the team's most gifted offensive minded player. That’s it. The team needs more. Maybe we got that in Tsyplakov and Eiserman with time. The rest falls on Lou’s shoulders. He just needs to be smarter with deal making.

 

[Potvottier]

It feels like Barzal is holding the stick a bit too tight. He will loosen up. He is trying to learn to be more north and south, keeping it simple, and eliminating the high risk passes/stick-handling. It seems that ragging the puck and not shooting, are hard for him to transition from. I am sure that he will get better at it, as the season goes along.

We can't blame him for our scoring woes. The entire team is snake bitten, and we are outshooting our opponents handily. It makes me think that it is more of a system that needs changing. I do feel like he needs to be skating harder, and start rubbing guys out. Be a little bit physical... it wears on the opponents. But physicality is not his strength, so he should be buzzing around the perimeter.

I'd give him a 7 out of 10 so far.