Though it seemed Barzal, the 16th overall selection from two summers ago, won a top-nine center-ice role out of training camp, he dressed just twice for the Islanders, recording no points.
The decision preserves the first season on Barzal's entry-level deal.
Meanwhile, the clock has started on fellow 2015 first-round draft selection Anthony Beauvillier, who recently crossed the nine-game threshold. The winger has one goal and five points with New York.
Patrik Laine was celebrated with a shower of hats, but his third goal against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday was a complete effort from all five Winnipeg Jets skaters.
Here's how it happened
The play started with defenseman Tyler Myers (57), who slid the puck from behind his own net to partner Toby Enstrom (39).
With Stars center Tyler Seguin (91) bearing down on him, Enstrom chipped the puck off the boards as Winnipeg's forwards eyed a defensive zone exit.
Jets head coach Paul Maurice recently decided to load his first line with skilled forwards, and here's where it paid off.
Both Mark Scheifele (55) and Nikolaj Ehlers (27) were in position to gather the puck, but Scheifele as the center wisely deferred to Ehlers at the wing in order to spread things out and keep Dallas' defense on its toes.
Instead of dumping the puck deep into the offensive zone, Ehlers threaded a pass to Scheifele, who was able to cut between the defensive pairing of John Klingberg (3) and Esa Lindell (23) as a result of the winger carrying the play.
With the defense tracking the puck on the left side of the ice, Laine was left to get open on the right side, eagerly awaiting Scheifele's pass.
What's interesting to note here is that Patrik Nemeth (15) was on Laine's tail as a defenseman who's been forced to play forward as a result of a bevy of Dallas injuries up front.
Upon receiving the pass, Laine made no mistake, firing a wicked shot past a rather helpless Kari Lehtonen (32), who was pulled following this goal.
The goal was Laine's 11th in 14 games - a feat few have accomplished - and vaulted him to the top of the NHL leaderboard, while also boosting Scheifele's league-high point total.
It also served as a textbook example of how crisp puck movement and speed can lead to prime scoring chances, and the value of carrying the puck into the offensive zone as opposed to following the dump-and-chase model.
The NHL is trending more and more toward youth and skill, and both were in full display for the Jets on this one.
The 2016 second overall pick recorded a hat trick Tuesday in a win over Dallas, marking the second three-goal performance of his career.
Laine leads the NHL with 11 goals in 14 games, and the offensive outburst puts him alongside a few names to accomplish similar feats early in their careers.
Laine is fourth player in the modern era (since 1943-44) to post multiple hat tricks in his first 14 career games, joining Bernie Federko (1976-77), Bernie Nichols (1981-82), and Bob Gaudreau (1992-93).
Laine is also the fourth player in NHL history to record multiple hat tricks before his 19th birthday, following Jack Hamilton (1943-44), Dale Hawerchuk (1981-82), and Trevor Linden (1988-89).
Thirdly, Laine is the first player to score at least 11 goals in his opening 14 career games since 1992-93, when three players - including Winnipeg's own Teemu Selanne - achieved the feat.
Not only does Laine have the goal-scoring lead among all NHL players, he's also three points up on Toronto's William Nylander in the rookie scoring race, setting himself apart as the early front-runner for the Calder Trophy.
The Toronto Maple Leafs' modest three-game win streak came to an end Tuesday courtesy of a 7-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, and while head coach Mike Babcock was clearly disappointed with his team's effort, he seemed prepared to move forward in quick order.
"The good thing about it is we'll get up in the morning and the sun's going to get up, we're going to go to the rink and work," Babcock said postgame. "After we do our penance we'll probably get on with it, but you're not just going to get up tomorrow and everything is going to be rosy.
"We embarrassed ourselves here today and so it's like anything, you get to the rink and you go to work and reset what you've got to do and you understand what happened and go from there."
Not only were the Maple Leafs outscored by a wide margin, the shot differential was also heavily in the Kings' favor, and Babcock credited Los Angeles for simply being ready to win.
"We didn't play heavy, we didn't finish any checks, we didn't win any races. They won them all. Give them credit, they were way better than us. They were way more organized and way more prepared to compete at a high level."
Babcock added he'll revisit the game and assess whether lineup changes will be necessary for Friday's game against Philadelphia.
The reigning Stanley Cup champions prevailed in Tuesday's headliner of Sidney Crosby versus Connor McDavid, in an entertaining game from start to finish.
The hype was front-and-center from the get go, as the two captains were head-to-head for the opening faceoff. But it was McDavid who stole the early spotlight, buzzing past Pittsburgh's defense to create two assists in the first and adding a third in the second frame.
While the two generational phenoms are showstopping talents on the ice, neither McDavid or Crosby exude the same sort of excitement in front of a microphone, but nonetheless, the two recognized their first matchup was a unique opportunity.
"It was a good chance for me to measure myself against the best player in the world," McDavid said postgame. "Going head-to-head with him was a good test."
McDavid admitted he was excited to take on a childhood idol.
"There definitely was a little bit of a level of excitement to play against a guy like him, someone that I grew up watching," McDavid said. "It definitely wasn't hard to get up for this one."
Crosby, on the other hand, faced the unenviable task of containing McDavid's speed, something that wasn't very enjoyable early on.
Sidney Crosby was asked if playing Connor McDavid was fun:
As he settled in, however, Crosby said anticipation is the key.
"If you're even with him, you're in big trouble, so you'd better make sure you're a step ahead," Crosby told Tom Gulitti of NHL.com.
Crosby took the two points, but McDavid captured the statistical advantage in Round 1, and unfortunately, we'll have to wait until March 2 to see what the sequel holds.
