Christian Arnold
It is the question that is on every New York Islanders fans’ mind. When will Mat Barzal be re-signed by the Islanders and what will that contract look like?
The 23-year-old Islanders star is due for a pay raise and the team is under a major cap crunch at the moment with just $8.9 million left for next season to work with to re-sign Barzal, fellow restricted free agent Ryan Pulock and possibly some unrestricted free agents. The NHL’s flat salary cap for the foreseeable future also throws a rather unique twist into the already complicated Barzal equation.
Right now the Islanders priority is clearing cap space so that they can work out a deal with Barzal. As has been reported here and various other outlets, Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, Andrew Ladd and Leo Komarov are all contracts that could be moved to free up space.
All of those carry a sizable cap hit and general manager Lou Lamoriello needs to clear at least one or two of those to have some wiggle room to work. That is what has held up the rest of the Islanders offseason plans, including re-signing their most valuable piece.
When that time finally does come, Mat Barzal will be in for a hefty raise, but it will likely come on a shorter-term deal. The feeling was that Lamoriello would likely try to work out a bridge deal for Barzal even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Now, with everything going on, it is even more likely that a two or three-year bridge deal is what Barzal is looking at. From a team and player standpoint, it’s the most logical turn of events considering the circumstance.
From a player perspective, Barzal and his agent surely understand the current financial circumstances of the Islanders and the rest of the NHL because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams are not in the position to hand out pricey long-term deals and Barzal could cash in down the line once the cap begins to increase as the league gets back onto stable ground financially.
Even the unrestricted free agent market seems to reflect this thought process with players signing shorter deals, the most notable case being Taylor Hall in Buffalo.
Other RFAs and teams around the league have also seemed to be following this playbook. The Buffalo Sabres signed RFA Sam Reinhart to a 1-year, $5.2 million deal on Sunday. Columbus’ Max Domi was inked to a two-year extension that came with a $5.3 million AAV.
Barzal is going to command more than that, just for the record.
The Islanders camp would like to lock him in somewhere around $7 million per season in all likelihood. Patrik Laine’s two-year, $13.5 million deal — which comes in at $6.75 million per year — or Brayden Point’s three-year, $20.25 million contract — $6.25 million per year — are both prime examples of what Barzal could be looking at.
In the two years prior to his new contract, Point scored back to back 30-plus goal seasons and registered at least 60 points in both of those years. He had 92 points (41 goals, 51 assists) during the 2018-19 season.
Laine had three straight 30-plus goal seasons and had at least 50 points each year of his first seasons in the NHL.
Mat Barzal in his three seasons with the Islanders had three consecutive 60-plus point season, which included 85 points in his rookie year. He has been the Islanders leading scorer for three straight seasons and he averaged around 20 minutes of ice time a game last season.
Both Laine and Point’s contracts were signed before the pandemic, and obviously, things haven’t worked out quite as planned between the Winnipeg Jets and Laine, but certainly, those two are the best comparables around for what to anticipate the Islanders trying to re-sign Barzal for.
