Morning Skate: Shopping

Jan 31, 2023 - 11:35 AM

The 2023 NHL Trade Deadline is a little more than a month away, but the New York Islanders kicked off the shopping spree in a big way last night.

The Isles, not exactly a team at the top of anyone’s list of Cup contenders, went big and acquired Bo Horvat from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Anthony Beauvilier, Aatu Raty, and a top-12 protected first round pick in this year’s draft.

While it’d be silly to claim this trade will lead to a flood of deals this far ahead of the deadline, the first big piece moving often sets up a chain reaction of other deals, so...we’ll see.

It’s a pretty big price to pay for a pending UFA, especially when you’re an Islanders team that probably isn’t just one piece away from a Cup.

It’ll be interesting to see how things play out with a contract extension too — if the Isles don’t get Horvat to put pen to paper on a new deal by the deadline, they could always trade him again, right?

If nothing else, it’s one big name off the “Bruins should get him” board, so let’s see who else is out there.

In Bruins news yesterday, the B’s sent Marc McLaughlin and Joona Koppanen back to Providence.

There were reports that Jakub Lauko and Vinni Lettieri had been recalled in their place, but nothing official from the team yet.

What’s on tap for today?

Today’s discussion topic

You may have already covered this last night, but your thoughts on the Horvat deal? What do you think the Bruins’ equivalent would have been?