Islanders Gameday News: Horvat signs before his debut tonight in Philly

Feb 6, 2023 - 12:00 PM

Bo Horvat is here to stay, folks. It took only one trip to Long Island to sign on the dotted line, although I’m sure it helps to get $8.5 million every year through the end of the decade and into 2031. It had to be the schools. Long Island is a nice place to be rich and have a young family.

I’m over the moon about this. I don’t care if it’s too long and too much money, and neither does Lou Lamoriello.

This is the first true-talent first-line goal scorer that Mathew Barzal will get to pass to, and they’re signed to eight-year contracts that expire in the same year. I hope the chemistry comes naturally and quickly. Horvat, Barzal, Noah Dobson, and Ilya Sorokin is a great core to build around. And it probably says only bad things about the franchise’s history—bad things we know, of course—but how about this:

Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, potentially the second-best duo in New York Islanders franchise history, behind two first-ballot Hall of Famers. We have eight and a half years, starting tonight, to see if that comes to pass. Now on July 1, Lou can get to work on extending Sorokin...

FIG picks go here for Horvat’s debut in the City of Brotherly Love as the Islanders visit the Philadelphia Flyers.

Islanders News

• A preview of tonight’s game.
• It’s nice that we can come into this game, Horvat’s debut, without wondering if he’d be a Weird Islander. He’s here for eight more years after this one, making $8.5 million each year in straight salary (not buyout-proof, in other words) and with a full no-trade clause for the first four years, followed by a modified 16-team no-trade clause for the final four. [LHH | Islanders | Newsday | NHL | The Athletic]

• Now it’s time to get down to business. He’s already on the top line and top power play unit, where he belongs. [Islanders]
• Getting down to business also meant saying goodbye to his beard and to his Vancouver Canucks teammates, especially Elias Pettersson, who he rode with one last time at the All-Star Game. [Newsday]
• Horvat’s acquisition and extension will provide “a big spark” for the Islanders in their playoff push. [amNY]
• Noah Dobson and Hudson Fasching returned to practice yesterday. [Isles DTD] Also, Simon Holmstrom and Samuel Bolduc were called back up from Bridgeport. [Isles DTD] Hopefully, both injured guys are ready to go. Stefen Rosner also reported that Dobson was quarterbacking the top power play.

• An NYI Longread about our All-Star, Brock Nelson. The Brock Star. [Islanders]
• A fairly long read about Ilya Sorokin’s road to the NHL and All-Star Weekend. [Islanders]
• This week’s episode of Islanders Anxiety came out just a couple of hours before Horvat’s extension was announced, but Dan and Mike talk about the Horvat trade and the misery of watching ESPN’s coverage of All-Star Weekend. [LHH]

Elsewhere

First night back to NHL action after the All-Star break. No NHL scores from last night.

• After extending Dylan Strome on Friday, the Washington Capitals signed Massapequa native Sonny Milano for three more years at under $2 million AAV. [TSN]
• Yesterday evening, the Seattle Kraken acquired defenseman Jaycob Megna from the San Jose Sharks for a fourth-round pick. [NHL]
• Commissioner Gary Bettman, celebrating 30 years on the job, announced Toronto as next year’s All-Star host and discussed Ivan Provorov. [Sportsnet]
• Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ron Hextall (it’s still so weird that the long-time Flyers goalie and GM is now running the cross-state rival) said his team has been too inconsistent. Hope that keeps up. [NHL]
• St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong has quite a few pieces he’s probably going to move, and he could play kingmaker. [Sportsnet]