The biggest surprise of the 2017-2018 New York Islanders season was the emergence of Mathew Barzal. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a high ceiling as a prospect, it was how fast he burst onto the scene and how different he looked from his two games last year.
Barzal’s impressive and historic rookie season yielded him a Calder Trophy nomination along with Clayton Keller and Brock Boeser.
Barzal finished his rookie season with 85 points (22 goals, 63 assists) leading the Islanders. His assist total was good enough for third all-time as a rookie and tied with the likes of Sidney Crosby and Bryan Trottier.