Friday Four: Barzal, Sergachev playing key roles for Islanders, Lightning

Each Friday throughout the season Kevin Weekes will be bringing you his Friday Four. He will be blogging about four players, teams, plays or trends that have caught his eye.

Mathew Barzal

The New York Islanders are hanging in there in the tough Metropolitan Division. They're in fifth place but five points behind the first-place New Jersey Devils. A big reason why is rookie forward Mathew Barzal. The 20-year-old leads rookies in assists (23), is second with 36 points, two behind Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks, and tied for second with 13 goals (Boeser leads with 21; he had a goal and three assists in a 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday and has a goal in four straight games). And Barzal may be the best 3-on-3 player in the League right now. That's saying something, considering John Tavares is on his team.
Barzal scored in overtime in a 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, one game after he had his first NHL hat trick in a 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. When he's in motion it's impossible to get the puck from him. Barzal is electrifying to watch. It looks like the Islanders have a stud in this guy, who they selected with the No. 16 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and who was the MVP of the Western Hockey League playoffs after he had 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 16 games and helped Seattle win the championship.

Mikhail Sergachev

Sergachev, 19, could have been a stud defenseman with the Montreal Canadiens, who selected him No. 9 in the 2016 NHL Draft, but they traded him to the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Jonathan Drouin on June 15. I thought Sergachev was excellent with Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League, with 43 points (10 goals, 33 assists) in 50 games last season, and scouts told me to wait until he figures his game out in the NHL. Well, I think he's done that so far this season.
He has 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists), including 10 power-play points and five game-winning goals, and is plus-13 in 36 games. Sergachev (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) is a big body who gives the Lightning another offensive threat from the blue line, joining Victor Hedman. When you add the contributions he's provided defensively to the forward group and goalie the Lightning have, it's not hard to see why this team is a Stanley Cup contender.

Ryan Kesler

The Anaheim Ducks got a big piece of their team back with the return of center Ryan Kesler on Wednesday. Playing in his first game since having offseason hip surgery, Kesler skated 16:27, had three shots on goal and was minus-3 in a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. If he's able to play and even be 80 percent of the player he was prior, that is big for the Ducks.
Anaheim, which has won the Pacific Division five straight seasons, currently is in fifth, four points behind the third-place San Jose Sharks and on the outside of the Stanley Cup Playoff picture. They're 16-14-8 and need Kesler, who does it all. He plays on the power play and the penalty kill, takes faceoffs and usually draws ice time against the other teams' top offensive players. It would be unrealistic to think the five-time Selke Trophy finalist and 2011 winner of the award as the best defensive forward to play at that level right away, especially since he spent 3-4 months on crutches and said he had to re-learn how to stride. However, once he finds his groove again the Ducks probably will move up the division standings.

Dustin Brown

When the Los Angeles Kings took Brown in the 2003 NHL Draft (No. 13) from Guelph of the OHL, they identified him as a potential captain, which he was from 2008-16. Brown, a five-time 20-goal scorer, hasn't scored more than 18 since 2012-13, and last season had 14 in 80 games. But this season he has 13 goals in 38 games this season, putting him on pace for 28, tying for the second-highest mark of his NHL career.
Kings coach John Stevens said Brown has changed his game. He and linemate Anze Kopitar, who has 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 38 games, have been re-energized offensively. Stevens had a lot of good things to say about them and how his discussion with Brown prior to the season helped turn his game around. He used to be more of a physical, defensive forward but has rediscovered his offensive touch. The two-time Stanley Cup winner played in his 1,000th NHL game Dec. 21 and fittingly scored in overtime to defeat the Colorado Avalanche that same night.

HONORABLE MENTION

New York Rangers goaltending coach Benoit Allaire has helped backup Ondrej Pavelec, and the results have shown. I spoke to Pavelec last week and he said that everything that he's worked on with the coaches has helped him. It's tough when you're a guy that's played games and then isn't playing. He started at least 40 games six straight seasons (2009-15) with the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets franchise but played most of last season in the American Hockey League. Pavelec has stopped 115 of 119 shots in his past three starts (2-0-1) and probably will get more starts down the stretch to give Henrik Lundqvist some rest.
I hope everyone will tune in to the United States-Canada game at the 2018 World Junior Championship from New Era Field in Buffalo on Friday (3 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN, RDS). The preliminary-round outdoor game will be a precursor to the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres from Citi Field in New York on Monday (1 p.m. ET; NBC, TVA Sports, SN, NHL.TV) and will be a big test for the U.S., which lost to Slovakia 3-2 on Thursday. Keep an eye on Sabres forward prospect Casey Mittlestadt. I know he's a left-handed shot but he has a little of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Phil Kessel in him, to me. He can shoot off either foot and score in different ways, and is one of the hometown team's prospects looking to make an impression.