The Islanders and Mathew Barzal agreed to a three-year contract on Saturday, which will keep the team’s top scorer on Long Island until 2023, a source confirmed to The Post.
The terms of the contract were not disclosed, but it was widely reported that it has an average annual value of $ 7 million. The 23-year-old star center will earn $ 3 million in 2020-21 with a $ 1 million signing bonus, $ 7 million in 2021-22 and $ 10 million in the final year, according to TSN.
Barzal’s new deal links him to Captain Anders Lee as the Islanders’ highest-paid player. When it expires, Barzal will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
After losing the last five days of the training ground while negotiations were being discussed, Barzal was back on the ice on Saturday at the Islanders’ training center. On Wednesday, coach Barry Trotz acknowledged how difficult it will be for “anyone trying to catch up” with the Islanders’ first game of the season in a few days.
Negotiations between Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello and Barzal’s camp, which had no arbitration rights, were delayed because the NHL took time to figure out next season’s logistics amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The extension allowed Lamoriello to free up space for internationalization, sending defender Devon Toews to Colorado and preparing for Johnny Boychuk’s imminent long-term reserve appointment. The Islanders are now about $ 3 million above the upper salary limit, but that will be resolved once Boychuk is placed on the LTIR and his $ 6 million limit removed.
Barzal has been the Islanders’ biggest producer since his first full NHL season in 2017-18, in which he scored 22 goals and conceded 63 assists in 82 games. That year, he received the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the league’s best newcomer.
The choice of 16th overall place in the 2015 draft won All-Star nods in 2019 and 2020 after registering 62 points (18 goals, 44 assists) and 60 points (19 goals, 41 assists) in each respective season.
During the Islanders’ run to the conference final last season, Barzal had a strong offensive display with five goals and 12 assists in 22 games, including five power play points.