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How The New York Islanders’ 2015 Draft Class Performed

Name: Mathew Barzal
Age: 18
Shoots: Right
Height/Weight: 6-0/175
Position: C
Drafted: 1st round (16th overall), 2015
Probability of success: A-
Prospect talent score: A

Scouting Report

From my prospect series on Blue and Orange Pride:

New York traded one of their most valuable assets — Defenseman Griffin Reinhart — for the sixteenth pick in the Draft, which would turn out to be the 18-year-old center. “We wouldn’t have made the move if [Barzal] wasn’t there,” Snow said. Lauded for his vision, breakaway speed, work ethic, soft hands and passing ability, the 5-10/182 center (a bit undersized, by NHL standards) was at one point, the second-biggest name in the 2015 NHL Draft class. Twenty six goals and eighty five assists in two seasons, and the rookie is one of the top scorers in the organization’s system.

2015-16 Season Stats

Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL): 58 GP, 27 G, 61 A (88 PTS), 22 +/-, 58 PIM

How Barzal Fared

Barzal solidified his status as a top prospect with a tremendous season that entailed his Western League team advancing to their league championships. “He thinks the game at a faster speed than everyone else,” Scott Eansor said of his teammate, in an interview with My North West. “He works so hard technically in practice that it helps in games. He’s focusing on the little details in practice and making sure they’re perfect and sharp, that way he can bring it into games.”

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Justin Weiss is a staff editor at Elite Sports New York, where he covers the New York Islanders and Brooklyn Cyclones. In 2016, he received a Quill Award for Freelance Journalism. He has written for the Long Island Herald, FanSided and YardBarker.