New territory: Managing expectations for the 2012 top pick Mat Barzal

To hear Mathew Barzal tell it, he only had a couple of butterflies in his stomach returning home to play his first Western Hockey League game in Canada. Barzal was the first overall pick by the Seattle Thunderbirds in 2012's WHL Bantam Draft and a graduate of the Burnaby Winter Club program. He was also the runaway leading scorer last season in the British Columbia Major Midget League, scoring 29 goals and recording 74 assists for 103 total points. Even as a 15-year-old, the youngest age group in midget hockey, he managed to finish 18 points ahead of the next competitor, playing fewer games because of a brief 6-game stint for the Junior A Coquitlam Express.

His coach, third-year Seattle Thunderbirds bench boss Steve Konowalchuk, called his game against his hometown Vancouver Giants Wednesday night "solid. Not his best game. Not his worst game." Barzal was without a point in a 6-0 rout by the T-Birds over the Giants, a team that doesn't keep it a secret that they're rebuilding. While Barzal may have downplayed his own nervousness playing in front of a gathering of family and friends—as well as an ex-teammate—in his hometown, Konowalchuk said this was a good game to get out of the way early: "He mentioned to some of the guys or one of the coaches before the game that he couldn't remember the last time he was nervous, which is fun."

The night before, Barzal had been texting with a friend of his from the Winter Club, 2012 15th overall pick Ty Ronning. The two were exchanging pleasantries and trash talk. During the game, Ronning had to twice elude checks from Barzal in front of a strong contingent of fans wearing Burnaby's gold and black sweater. Four players from the BWC were selected in the first round of the 2012 draft and this was the first time two of those players had gone head to head. While each player wants to do what's best for their team, it's no secret that Barzal is the most talented and the one most likely to have a run of success at the junior level and higher on up.

Perhaps more than any other sport, elite hockey ability is spotted at a very early age. While the Ontario and Quebec leagues select players to their teams coming off of their 15-year-old seasons, the WHL is the only one drafting bantam players, a year before they turn midget. Despite being drafted three years before NHL Draft eligibility, between 2006 and 2010, every player taken first overall in the WHL's Bantam Draft was selected in the first round of the NHL Draft. The exception wwas Prince George's Alex Forsberg, a player who fell off the radar somewhat last season after falling out with his coach and his organization. The 2011 first overall selection, Jake Virtanen of the Calgary Hitmen, is listed as the 13th top prospect for this spring's entry draft according to a consensus ranking pulled from various sources. Despite the expectations and the overwhelming, yet tempered, success of No. 1 WHL picks looking to transition to the NHL, the phenom and the Thunderbirds haven't sat down to discuss expectations from a statistical standpoint for his rookie season.

"I didn't come in with too many goals this year," Barzal said. " I want to come in with a feel for it and really help my team and contribute any way I can. As long as we're winning, like we are right now, I'm happy."

"We haven't sat down and talked about it," Konowalchuk said. "He has expectations but he also is good with self-accountability. If he's not doing something right… if you know what you're doing good and you know what you're doing bad you know you can focus on that and not worry about the big picture."

Barzal's WHL career is just two games old, so there's not enough of a sample size to draw from to discuss his overall play. Against the Giants, playing on a line with the Latvian Roberts Lipsbergs and the overage Seth Swanson, he didn't record a point or even a shot on goal. There were shifts, particularly on the powerplay, where he looked strong, capable, and confident on the puck. While there's no barometer as far as a 50-point or 60-point season goes for evaluating his own play, Barzal did admit that he kept a tab last year on Connor McDavid with the Erie Otters, a player he faced in the All-State All-Canadian Mentorship Cup last summer in Toronto, a single game that puts the top bantam players in the country on national television. Both players are highly skilled playmakers with a lot of hockey sense.

"You can pick up things on what he's doing," said Barzal. "He's a great player to watch."

The comparison isn't a forced one. It's an obvious one, but Konowalchuk mentioned that one of Barzal's goals is to be a top pick in 2015. The way Barzal will get there isn't by anything Thunderbirds brass sets for him, but the way that other WHL rookies play this season, and the way that players in different hockey leagues perform next season. Ultimately, the player and coach are focusing on the things they can control this early in the season. We're way too far from the point where we can judge anything about Barzal's adjustment to the WHL, but he's gotten most of his "firsts" out of the way. Next up, presumably, "first goal".