The New York Islanders may not have to wait much longer for Mathew Barzal.
Head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters today, including Stefen Rosner of The Elmonters, that the club is optimistic Barzal will be back in the lineup soon after missing the start of his season with a knee injury. Barzal has been skating as he continues his recovery, but a return for tomorrow’s game against the Vancouver Canucks may come too early. If his progress keeps moving in the right direction, Thursday’s matchup with the Ottawa Senators could be the more realistic target.
When Barzal does return, the Islanders should be getting one of their most dangerous offensive weapons back. The 29-year-old led New York in scoring by a wide margin last season, finishing with 19 goals and 72 points in 81 games.
No other Islander got to 60 points. The 2017-18 Calder Trophy winner has spent more time on the wing in recent years, largely because the team’s center group has gotten deeper since the arrival of Bo Horvat.
New York currently has four natural centers on the roster behind Horvat, but only three available spots down the middle. That number jumps to five once Barzal is back.
The likeliest setup appears to be a second-line role with Barzal centered by either Brayden Schenn or Calum Ritchie.
Elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division, New York Rangers winger Alexis Lafreniere picked up another sign of his strong start by being named the NHL’s third star of the week. The 2020 No. 1 overall pick came into the league carrying enormous expectations, with many projecting him as a future star scorer.
So far, he has been a useful middle-six winger, but not quite the player people expected at the top of the draft. This season has looked different.
Lafreniere has eight points in seven games, and he has been operating at close to a point-per-game pace since the Rangers moved on from Artemi Panarin. It’s still a small sample, but the trend is hard to miss.
The Columbus Blue Jackets also made a roster move involving Riley Bezeau, activating him from his injured, non-roster designation and sending him to the Cleveland Monsters. Bezeau was hurt during rookie camp, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, and sat out all of training camp.
The undrafted forward joined Columbus last summer on a one-year AHL contract before signing an NHL deal this past summer. In 24 AHL games during the 2025-26 season, he scored five goals and seven points and added 74 penalty minutes.
He was also named one of the team’s alternate captains today.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Have An Early Lineup Problem Luca Del Bel Belluz Could Solve
The Blue Jackets have spent the first stretch of the season looking like a team with enough scoring punch to stay in games, but not quite enough structure to keep them tidy at the other end. Through four games, Columbus has produced 12 goals and given up 14, a split that points to a roster still searching for the right balance, especially among its forward groups.
One possible answer is waiting in the wings in Luca Del Bel Belluz, whose presence would give the coaching staff another way to shuffle the middle-six mix and smooth out some of the early unevenness. Columbus has options, and the question now is less about whether there are enough forwards to work with than which combination can bring more consistency, deeper support and a lineup that better fits the way this team wants to play. [Read more 🡒]
Denton Mateychuk Is Headed Toward A Blue Jackets Payday Debate
Denton Mateychuk is getting close to the point where his next Blue Jackets contract becomes more than a backdrop conversation. The young defenseman is entering the final season of his entry-level deal in Columbus, and his camp has already made clear it would be open to discussing an extension if the terms make sense.
For now, the situation is mostly about timing and value, two things that can move quickly once a team sees a player as part of its long-term core. Comparisons around the league suggest Mateychuk is the kind of defenseman whose next deal could land well above the usual bridge range, which is exactly why his next step is the sort of decision Columbus will want to get right before the market gets any louder. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Are Showing An Early Edge Fans Should Notice
A small early-season detail has jumped off the page for Columbus: the Blue Jackets are controlling the dot in a way that can change shifts before they really start. Through four games, they have been efficient in the faceoff circle, and the gains have shown up in key moments too, with strong numbers on both the power play and while shorthanded. For a team looking to build cleaner possession and more stable game flow, that kind of work can matter as much as a hot scoring stretch.
Adam Fantilli has been a big part of that edge, with Charlie Coyle also giving the Blue Jackets a reliable presence in the circle. The bigger question now is whether this is an early-season blip or a real habit that can hold up once opponents start game-planning more aggressively, because teams that consistently start with the puck tend to make life easier on themselves in just about every zone. [Read more 🡒]