The Islanders’ season is over after a five-game loss to the Hurricanes in the first round, so it’s time to reflect and to start looking ahead.
The best way of doing that, naturally, is with a mega-newsletter with takeaways on every player on the roster, thoughts on the playoff series and the season writ large.
Since this got long, we’re going to keep the intro short and get right into it with the forward group.
Forwards
Mat Barzal: Statistically, this was Barzal’s best season since his Calder Trophy-winning rookie year. In reality, it was probably his best season, period. Barzal hit the 80-point mark, was engaged defensively more often than in the past and successfully executed a move to the wing. He meshed well with Patrick Roy, and Roy trusted him in more late-game situations — which probably had something to do with the Islanders starting to figure out how to hang onto leads late in the season.
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