The New York Islanders inked star forward Mathew Barzal to a three-year contract, reports The Athletic's Arthur Staple.
Barzal will earn $4 million this season, $7 million in 2021-22, and $10 million the following campaign for an average annual value of $7 million, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.
Under the NHL's new MOU rules, Barzal will require an $8.4M qualifying offer when this contract expires. And he'll be one year away from unrestricted free agency.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 9, 2021
The two sides had been eyeing a six-year extension, but Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello couldn't gain enough cap flexibility to facilitate that, Dreger adds.
Barzal was a restricted free agent. The 23-year-old led the team with 60 points and ranked third with 19 goals while playing all 68 of New York's games last season.
The dynamic center is a possession wizard, having authored expected goals for, scoring chances for, and Corsi For ratings above 50% in 2019-20. Where he truly shines, though, is at zone entries.
There isn’t a single player in the league better than Barzal at entering the zone. His 32 entries per 60 led the league and he did it with very high efficiency, a 78 percent controlled rate that was in the league’s top five.
— IslesBlog (@IslesBlog) January 4, 2021
Barzal has played three full seasons with the Islanders and hasn't missed a game during that span. New York drafted him 16th overall in 2015.
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