Mathew Barzal knows he and Bo Horvat must produce more next season, regardless of whether he plays on Horvat’s right wing or moves back to center.
Such increased production would help the Islanders get off to a better start, rather than waiting until the season’s final game to qualify for the playoffs.
“The goal is to be in the playoffs every year,” Barzal said on Monday during the team’s breakup day after a first-round playoff ouster to the Hurricanes. “This year, it was fighting for that last spot. But I want to be in a position where it’s not just trying to sneak into the playoffs, it’s going in and having a little comfort halfway through the season. I feel like the last two years it’s been, 45 games in, we’re scratching and clawing.”
The Islanders earned a wild-card berth in coach Lane Lambert’s first season with a 42-31-9 mark after falling six points out of a playoff spot on Jan. 26. Neither president/general manager Lou Lamoriello nor Lambert addressed the media during breakup day and have yet to speak since.
Barzal, who turns 26 in May, returned for the six playoff games after missing the season’s final 23 games with a knee injury. He begins an eight-year, $73.2 million extension next season, concurrent to the eight-year, $68 million deal for Horvat, 28.
Lambert moved Barzal from center to right wing upon Horvat’s acquisition from the Canucks on Jan. 30. The aim is for the two to form a potent scoring duo on the Islanders’ top line. Barzal called it a coach’s decision as to which position he plays.
“I’ve been a center for 15 years so I wouldn’t say it was extremely natural right away,” Barzal said. “But playing with Bo or even a little bit with Pager [Jean-Gabriel Pageau] late, they make it easy because they’re just in the right positions and they are predictable. As a centerman, you’re crossing over a little more whereas wing is a little more stop-and-start and your side of the ice a little more. That…
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