Bo Horvat has a new team and it’s not the Boston Bruins.
The Vancouver Canucks traded the star center to the New York Islanders on Monday night, finally giving Horvat the change of scenery he needs. Horvat had been connected to the Bruins in the past, and he without a doubt would have given the Stanley Cup contenders even better chances.
But at the end of the day, it was smart for the Bruins to not acquire Horvat.
The Islanders traded Anthony Beauvillier, prospect Aatu Raty and a conditional 2023 first-round pick for Horvat, who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. New York, of course, can sign Horvat to an extension, but that’s a steep price tag for a rental for a team that’s desperate to make the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Earlier this month Jeff Marek of SportsNet reported the Canucks were looking for three players, “including a prospect” in a trade for Horvat. It was just too much of an ask for the Bruins, especially with how they’ve been playing this season despite being in the midst of their first losing streak of the season. Would they really want to mess with what they have going on right now?
The chemistry the Bruins have is unmatched, and it wouldn’t be worth shaking that up (plus potentially diving into your future talent) to acquire someone who might not return after this season.
The Bruins also don’t have a ton of cap space to work with if they wanted to fit Horvat onto the team. CapFriendly projects the B’s to have just over $33,000 in cap space to work with and will have about $22 million at the end of the season. That’s not accounting for a potential David Pastrnak extension and any bonuses from David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron’s contracts. Plus, what if Krejci and Bergeron re-sign in Boston next year?
There’s no denying that Horvat would have been a good fit for the Bruins and would have added scoring prowess to an already-goal-happy offense. But it was a desperation move by the Islanders, who now risk missing the Stanley Cup playoffs and losing Horvat.
It’s a win for the Bruins at the end of the day, though, given the Islanders aren’t a threat in the Atlantic Division.
The NHL trade deadline is March 3, so the Bruins do have plenty of time to make some moves, maybe even with the Canucks.
