The Islanders and Mathew Barzal on Saturday agreed to a three-year deal that 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 is well known that it has an average annual value of $ 7 million. The 23-year-old star center will earn $ 3 million in 2020-2021 with a $ 1 million signing bonus, $ 7 million in 2021-22, and $ 10 million last year, TSN said.
Barzal’s new deal binds him to Captain Anders Lee as the islanders’ highest paid player. When it expires, Barzal will be a limited free agent with arbitration rights.
After missing training camp for the past five days while negotiations were being settled, Barzal was back on the ice at the islanders’ training facility on Saturday. 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 just days away.
Negotiations between the islanders’ general manager Lou Lamoriello and Barzal’s camp, which had no arbitration rights, were delayed as the NHL took time to figure out the logistics of the upcoming season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The extra time allowed Lamoriello to free up cap space by sending defender Devon Toews to Colorado and preparing for Johnny Boychuk’s forthcoming designation for long-term injured reserve. The islanders are now about $ 3 million above the upper salary cap, but that will be taken care of once Boychuk is placed on LTIR and his $ 6 million limit removed.
Barzal has been the Islanders’ producer since his first full NHL season in 2017-18, scoring 22 goals and providing 63 assists in 82 games. That year, he received the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the best rookie in the competition.
The former 16th overall pick in the 2015 draft earned All-Star points in 2019 and 2020 after scoring 62 points (18 goals, 44 assists) and 60 points (19 goals, 41 assists) in each season.
During the Islanders’ flight to the final of last season’s conference, Barzal had a strong offensive performance with five goals and 12 assists in 22 games, including five points on the power play.