This past week, the NHL and the NHLPA announced the selections for the 2020 All-Star Game, and to almost no one surprise, Mathew Barzal was selected to represent the New York Islanders in St. Louis, Missouri this season. This will be Barzal’s second career All-Star game, as he played a major role in the Metropolitan divisions win in last year’s All-Star game.

Now in his third season, Mathew Barzal has been nothing but fantastic once again for the orange and blue this season, ending the first three months of the season with a team-high total of thirty-four points in thirty-eight games, four points ahead of Brock Nelson. The biggest concern that some had for Barzal last season was his ability to consistently score goals, and this season he is proving them wrong. As of the New Year, Barzal has sixteen goals, which leads the team, and it is also two away from his total from all of last season, eighteen.
Flashing back to last season, Barzal, in his first All-Star game, had the opportunity to play with some of the league’s finest, the two primary ones being two Pittsburgh Penguins in defenseman Kris Letang, and center Sidney Crosby. The most notable quote from Mathew Barzal’s first press conference after being named an All-Star came from when he was asked about who he was most excited to play with during this year’s All-Star Game, which is formatted the same as year’s past, with a three-on-three tournament.

Make sure you tune in on January 24th and January 25th to watch Mathew Barzal (and potentially more…) represent your New York Islanders in the 2020 NHL All-Star Game and All-Star Skills Competition on NBCSN!

Also, if you want to vote Brock Nelson into the All-Star Game as the Metropolitan Division’s Last Man In, as well as choosing one final player for each division, click here to vote!

John Smark