The Islanders and Mathew Barzal agreed on a three-year deal on Saturday 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 has been reported to have an average annual value of $ 7 million. According to TSN, the 23-year-old star center will earn $ 3 million in 2020-21 with a $ 1 million bonus, $ 7 million in 2021-22 and $ 10 million last year.
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 missing the last five days of the training camp while negotiations began, Barzal was back on the ice on Saturday at the Islanders ’training facility. On Wednesday, coach Barry Trotz acknowledged the difficulty he will have 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 a long time to figure out next season’s logistics amid the coronavirus pandemic. .
The extra time allowed Lamoriello to free up cork space by sending defender Devon Toews to Colorado and preparing for Johnny Boychuk’s imminent long-term injury reserve designation. The islanders now have about $ 3 million above the upper limit of the salary cap, but that will take over once Boychuk is placed in LTIR and the $ 6 million limit is removed.
Barzal has been the Islanders ’leading producer since his first full NHL season in 2017-18, scoring 22 goals and delivering 63 assists in 82 games. That year he was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the best rookie in the league.
The former No. 16 pick in the 2015 draft earned the All-Star lead in 2019 and 2020 after recording 62 points (18 goals, 44 assists) and 60 points (19 goals, 41 assists) in each respective season.
During the Islanders ’run to the conference finals last season, Barzal had a strong offense with five goals and 12 assists in 22 games, including five points in the game.