Islanders' Mathew Barzal is Officially Holding Out

The New York Islanders opened training camp on Sunday and one player who was noticeably absent was star center, Mathew Barzal. Not sure how the team figured he would join them in camp without a contract, but apparently they were holding out hope.

#Isles camp has begun with off-ice testing today and Mathew Barzal is officially a holdout. Barry Trotz confirmed Barzal is not in camp yet, though he has been on LI.

"You have to make sure you're adaptable," Trotz said. "We're going to worry about who we can put on the ice."
— Arthur Staple (@StapeAthletic) January 3, 2021

As coach Trotz mentioned, he can only manage the players that are on the ice at the moment and can't worry too much about what management is doing. Islanders general manager, Lou Lamoriello is a hard bargain so there is certainly a chance this gets ugly.

The Islanders only have roughly $3.9 million in cap space at the moment with three NHL contract spots open, however, Barzal is going to demand anywhere from $6-8 million next season.

A trade or two would be needed to free up enough money to make everything work under the salary cap.

Absolutely the priority here is to re-sign Andy Greene and Matt Martin, and to sign Cory Schneider instead of your franchise center Mathew Barzal https://t.co/uH4y9AN18c
— Paul Ross (@RealPaulRoss) December 31, 2020