The NHL season is drawing near, which means it’s time to try and predict who the year’s big performers will be. This includes superlatives such as the team MVP, leading goal scorer, breakout player and the bounce back player. Which players will be having the best season for the 2022-2023 New York Islanders?
There’s a lot of reason to believe that Mat Barzal is going to have a career year this coming season. One of the noteworthy reasons is that it is the final year of Barzal’s current contract. Contract years tend to be a great incentive for higher levels of play in pro sports. With that, Barzal should be laser focused on securing a big payday on his next contract. The team staff will also be paying a high level of attention to Barzal this season. They want to make sure they can keep him around long term and give him the best opportunity to produce.
That includes trying to give him the best possible linemates and giving him more offensive freedom than he had with Barry Trotz as his head coach. Barzal is a player that has a winning mentality and a staff that is going to try very hard to put him in a position to succeed. There is a real possibility Barzal flirts with the 85 points he put up as a rookie in this critical season for the Islanders. But even if he doesn’t, he seems like the strongest candidate to be the team’s leading point producer by season’s end.
In a season where Anders Lee returned from a torn ACL, he finished second in total goals with 28 on the season. What was most notable about Lee’s 2021-22 season is how well he paired with Brock Nelson on the second line. A pretty significant portion of Lee’s production came in the latter half of the season when Trotz placed the two together. With the success they found together, it seems highly unlikely that Lane Lambert will split them up. And with Lee now fully healthy going into this season, he can truly challenge Nelson as the team’s top goal scorer.
He’s a player who’s scored 30+ twice before, so he has the ability to put up big numbers under the right circumstances. So given his comfortability with Nelson as his center, he seems primed for a big scoring year. It’ll be a close race between him and Nelson, but with Nelson due for a likely regression Lee may take the goal scoring crown by a slim margin.
The 2021-22 season was a major learning year for Oliver Wahlstrom. Trotz used a level of tough love discipline to try and evolve Wahlstrom’s game as a two way forward. With that came some struggles getting consistent playing time and finding that high level scoring touch he had in his rookie season. But with Lambert taking over with a new, offensive-oriented system, Wahlstrom should be able to have a greater focus on developing his scoring ability. An added bonus is the greater chance to get consistent playing time with Barzal.
Having the opportunity to work with a talented playmaker like Barzal in an offensive-oriented system is bound to open up more opportunities this season. All things considered, Wahlstrom has a real chance to be one of the team’s leading goal scorers under Lambert. He’ll be in a position where he can be more comfortable focusing on using his great shot and being a pure goal scorer. Hitting the 20 goal plateau for the first time in his career is a real possibility for Wahlstrom this season.
Anthony Beauvillier was subject to trade rumors throughout this offseason, but all signs point to him being on the Islanders roster when the season opens. Last season was Beauvillier’s most disappointing as an Islander, only scoring 12 goals and 34 points. And, per usual, Beauvillier’s production was highly streaky. This is shaping up to be a prove-it year for Beauvillier after the team strongly considered moving on from him.
Those offseason trade rumors should serve as a major motivator for Beauvillier to prove he can be a top six forward for this team. And the Islanders new play style this season gives him a great chance to develop a more consistent offensive game. A highly motivated Beauvillier playing in a different system should both be catalysts to a bounce back season for the 25-year-old.
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images
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