Islanders Country has been through this before.
As he headed towards unrestricted free agency, former captain John Tavares indicated on several occasions that he wanted to stay with the team that drafted him first overall in 2009. The franchise was headed in the right direction with new ownership and finally a new arena on the horizon.
The Islanders were even going to return to Nassau Coliseum to expedite the team’s return to Long Island from Brooklyn, and the franchise brought in Hall of Fame General Manager Lou Lamoriello and Stanley Cup winning Head Coach Barry Trotz.
It wasn’t enough, because Tavares left the Islanders to sign as a free agent with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1st, 2018.
And now, Islanders fans are hoping there isn’t another punch to the gut from a star playing leaving.
Mat Barzal was born in Coquitlam, British Columbia, one of 21 municipalities that make up Metro Vancouver. The Isles’ first-round pick in 2015 didn’t have to go far from home when he played junior hockey, as the Seattle Thunderbirds were just 142 miles away from Vancouver.
Since beginning his NHL career in 2016-17, Barzal has been back to Vancouver several times with the Islanders, but now he is getting ready for his first taste of NHL hockey in Seattle, as the Islanders begin their road trip Tuesday night against the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.
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He's back “home,” a short distance away from where he played junior hockey.
“It’s cool coming back here,” said Barzal after the Islanders practiced in Seattle on Monday. “The Seattle Thunderbirds was probably 25 minutes out of the city so we came down here every once in a while. It’s just awesome to be back, that feeling you get when you have history in a certain spot.”
And with that quote, Islanders fans are starting to feel that rumbling in their stomachs again.
That’s because Barzal has one year remaining on the three-year bridge contract he signed with the Islanders before last season, and now one has to wonder: is he going to re-sign with the Islanders, or will he join Tavares in leaving the Islanders for a sentimental destination?
Barzal is saying the right things, at least.
“I love being on the east coast,” said the 2017 Calder Trophy winner. “The other day I was in New York just going into the city. I’ve been in love with it. I love coming back to the west coast for the summer. When there’s good weather out here it’s nice, but in Vancouver and Seattle, it was always raining in the summer, and New York’s more cold and sunny so I’d take that all day.”
Remember what Tavares said in 2017, when the Islanders won the bidding to build an arena at Belmont Park?
“For my situation, it’s really exciting news. I’ve always stated how much I enjoy being here…and wanting it to work out here.”
Remember what he said when the Islanders announced a part-time return to the Coliseum in 2018?
“I think it’s great we’re going back and to having an opportunity to play there again. I think it’s only positive.”
It’s not wrong for Islanders fans, and maybe even the Islanders organization, to start getting worried about Barzal leaving too. He knows the Seattle area well, it’s not that far away from family and friends in Vancouver, and Barzal has great memories of his time in Seattle, including the Thunderbirds winning the Western Hockey League title in 2017.
“We won that championship,” said Barzal. “There’s a euphoric feeling that I got and we got as a team. We worked so hard for four years to accomplish that.”
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Knowing that there was definitely going to be a new arena on Long Island was not enough to keep Tavares around. Time will now tell if the reality of the Islanders’ new home UBS Arena at Belmont Park will help convince Barzal to sign with the Isles long-term.
One thing to keep in mind when you’re talking about arenas: Seattle has Climate Pledge Arena, another magnificent new building constructed by Oak View Group, the same company that built UBS Arena.
“It is unbelievable,” said Barzal. “The standing area up top with the light shining through…it’s similar seating and the way it’s built to UBS. It’s kind of a Seattle highlight with the light coming in, and makes it a little bit outdoorsy with the big window there and people can see through. Ebs (former Islander Jordan Eberle) told me that it was an unreal building, and it definitely is.”
And now Islanders fans, at least the ones that haven’t torched Barzal on social media, are holding their collective breath.
I’ll always remember being on the train home from work on July 1st, 2018. When my update shift at WCBS 880/CBS Sports Radio was over, there hadn’t been an announcement as to what decision John Tavares had made. During my train ride home, my cell phone rang and it was a call from home.
“It’s not a good situation here,” said my wife Sheryl, as she handed the phone to my then seven-year-old son Jared.
“Why did he have to leave?” asked Jared, as he was sobbing while trying to get the words out.
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That’s how I found out that John Tavares was an ex-Islander. When I got home, Jared had placed his Tavares jersey and all of his other Tavares souvenirs in a box and instructed me to “get rid of it.”
When July 1st, 2023 comes around, Jared is hoping that he doesn’t have to fill up another box of stuff to “get rid of.”
But once the Islanders’ plane touched down in Seattle on Sunday, and once the former Seattle Thunderbird was back “home” and got a look at Climate Pledge Arena, it became official: the Mat Barzal watch has begun here on Long Island.
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