The ongoing thriller around Mat Barzal’s return date may serve to obscure a more fascinating query: How will he match with the Islanders upon his return?
There’s no doubt the Islanders could use Barzal in their lineup as quickly as doable. Other than Matthew Schaefer, he’s the only really dynamic skater they have — the only other man who can flip a nothing shift into something at the snap of a finger. The Islanders have performed properly on the back of their protection through a 5-3-1 begin and acquired good secondary scoring, but Barzal helps deal with the most obvious gap they have — and one that, as the season wears on, will become much harder to conceal.
Still, there are two ranges on which Barzal’s eventual return will necessitate an adjustment on his half.
The first is injury-related: Whenever Barzal does return, he’ll be launching into the center of a season with out any coaching camp or video games, competing against gamers who have had a lot of both.
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