Newest Islander Bo Horvat is anxious about his new team and his new environs
Bo Horvat of the Islanders attends media day at Ft. Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort on Thursday in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Credit: NHLI via Getty Images/Eliot J. Schechter
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Bo Horvat just wants to play hockey and feel comfortable on the ice as a member of the Islanders after being traded for the first time in his career. He’ll let his agent, Pat Morris, talk to president/general manager Lou Lamoriello about a potential contract extension.
“I haven’t really even thought about it,” Horvat said on Thursday during the NHL All-Star Weekend’s media day. “For me, it’s where are we going to stay? Where are we going to live? Trying to get through this weekend and then get with the team. For me, to really focus on the hockey part right now and not worry about any of that other stuff is going to be the best for me and my game so I don’t have way too many things going on in my head.”
Horvat, acquired on Monday for Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Raty and a conditional first-round pick, said he is open to signing a new deal before free agency. He is an impending unrestricted free agent as he completes a six-year, $33 million deal.
Horvat’s first game with the Islanders will be in Philadelphia on Monday night. The Islanders (25-22-5) are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Penguins for the final wild-card spot.
The Islanders missed the playoffs last season and struggled through a 4-8-3 January. Horvat’s 31 goals and 23 assists should be a sorely needed boost to the Islanders’ production.
“It’s a huge deal,” fellow All-Star center Brock Nelson said. “I just met Bo for the first time but I’m familiar with him and his game, and he’s going to bring a huge element to our team. That’s a big move for us and a big move by Lou to try and get things done.
“It just goes to show that Lou wants to win and wants to win right now. It’s huge for the group. Everybody believed in one another pre-trade, and probably more so now post-trade with Bo.”
Added All-Star goalie Ilya Sorokin, “I was really sad with Beauvillier and Raty. It’s hockey life and I believe that Bo Horvat will help us be better.”
The former Canucks captain was prepared to don an Islanders Reverse Retro jersey — with the fisherman logo — for Friday night’s Skills Competition at FLA Live Arena. However, Horvat was not assigned to compete in any of the events. He will play for the Canucks’ Pacific Division in Saturday’s All-Star Game.
He was asked by a fan on Thursday to sign an Islanders jersey with the unfamiliar No. 14 and his name on the back. Horvat had to think twice when signing.
“You never think about getting a trade call. Ever,” Horvat said. “To actually get one, it was definitely weird. I really didn’t know how to take it. It still hasn’t sunk in really yet. It will start to more and more when I get there and meet the guys and put on the jersey for the first time. Somebody had a Horvat Islanders jersey here for the first time and I had to really concentrate to write 14 instead of 53.”
Horvat said he and his wife chose his new number because one plus four equals five and four minus one equals three.
Horvat repeatedly has said that while there’s disappointment in leaving Vancouver because, at one point, he was sure he would be a “Canuck for life,” he’s excited to help the Islanders. He also admitted he’s pretty anxious about what’s to come.
“I’m so nervous, I am,” he said. “It’s a city I don’t know a ton about yet. I know a couple of the guys, but just meeting all the new players and getting used to the systems, the culture there, it’s really nerve-wracking.”
The NHL trade deadline is March 3, so a trade more than a month in advance of that was unexpected.
That was the sense Devils All-Star center Jack Hughes got when speaking to his brother Quinn, a Canucks defenseman.
“Quinn is good buds with him and really respects him,” Jack Hughes said. “That was weird. It was early for him to get traded.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
