At the time of the draft, there was no way that the New York Islanders thought about franchise superstar John Tavares leaving the team. When center Mathew Barzal fell into their laps at 16th overall, there was no way they could pass up on him.
What hurts more is the fact that the Boston Bruins owned picks 13, 14 and 15 and failed to snag him. Barzal wasted no time turning on the jets in his rookie season last year, blowing up for 85 points in 82 games.
He received 160 out of 164 first-place votes for the Calder Trophy last season, with no other rookies even close to him. He was the first rookie since 1917-18 to record three five-point games in a season, and he absolutely dominated his competition. Now, with John Tavares out of the picture he’s still up to his old scoring self, sitting at 19 points in 21 games so far this season. Barzal is showing that he has what it takes to be a franchise center.