Exclusive | Mat Barzal tells The Post how his Islanders motivations have shifted

At this time in past years, Mat Barzal has often taken a wide focus.

He’s talked during prior training camps about wanting to be part of the league’s upper echelon of stars, and both last year and in the run-up to the NHL’s pullout from the 2022 Olympics, he made no secret of how much it would mean for him to represent Team Canada on the international stage.

So it tells you quite a lot about where things stand with Barzal that rather than wanting to prove something to the rest of the league after his injury-addled 2024-25 season, he spoke Monday in a conversation with The Post about merely wanting to prove something to himself and to his teammates.

“Just to be able to come back from an injury like I did, that in itself has proven to me how mentally strong I am,” Barzal said before the Islanders faced the Rangers in a preseason match at UBS Arena. “When it happened, when the injury happened, the boys were so gracious with me, just so there for me at all times. It’s also a reason why I was able to rehab so well, ’cause I felt so much support for the boys.”