Islanders’ Mathew Barzal ready to return to lineup after season-ending injury

It appears that Mathew Barzal is ready for the season to start.

After dealing with a season-ending injury in 2024-25, the New York Islanders center spoke during the NHL Media Tour in Las Vegas on Monday that he’s ready to return to the lineup for the 2025-26 season.

“Injuries like this, you potentially never feel back at 100 percent,” said Barzal. “But mentally, I’m at a point now where it doesn’t really matter. If I’m feeling great, if maybe one day I’m a little sore or whatever, it is what it is. And I got six more years left on my contract right now and I’m fully committed to just doing everything I can to be the best player I can be.”

Barzal missed 52 games in the 2024-25 season, first sustaining an upper-body injury against the Columbus Blue Jackets late in October 2024 that kept him out of the lineup for almost two months. After a return in mid-December, he played 20 games for the Islanders before blocking a shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning in early February 2025.

While Barzal technically could have returned late in the season, then-general manager Lou Lamoriello said in March that he would only return if he was feeling 100%. But as the Islanders fell out of the playoff picture, it didn’t make any sense for him to return and risk worsening the injury.

Barzal’s struggles in 2024-25 wasn’t just because of all the time he missed, as his on-ice performance also dipped. In the 30 games he managed to play, he only had six goals and 14 assists for 20 points. While the injuries alone mean that his 20 points is the lowest total of his career, his 0.67 points per game is also the lowest rate of his eight full-time seasons in the NHL.

Barzal is entering the third year of an eight-year contract with a $9.15 million cap hit.