EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — The Islanders’ dressing room here at their first-rate practice facility, the Northwell Health Ice Center, is oval-shaped. At one end is a giant smart board; at the other, at least for the first two years the Isles resided here, was John Tavares.



The captain’s locker was pretty much the focal point of the room opposite the giant screen. Reporters gravitated there and pretty much all the other stalls faced one another or sat at odd angles. It was certainly no coincidence that Tavares had that stall.



The lockers have changed a bit with Lou Lamoriello in charge and they certainly would still have changed had Tavares stayed — they’re all a bit more uniformly sized. And of course, Tavares is gone. In his place, in that central spot in a very different room, is the only Islander who could rightly call that spot home.



Mathew Barzal is The Man now on the Island, four months past his 21st birthday and three months past...