New York Islanders Land Bo Horvat

The New York Islanders acquired Vancouver Canucks Captain Bo Horvat, as part of a trade that took place on January 31st, 2023.  

The trade goes as follows:

Islanders receive: 

• Bo Horvat

Canucks receive: 

• Anthony Beauviller 
• Aatu Raty 
• Conditional 2023 first round pick

Now let’s talk about who the Islanders added and why. The Eastern Conference is simply stacked and it is going to be a dog fight to see who can make it into the playoffs from the east. Enter Bo Horvat, a proven leader having the best season of his career. At the time of the trade Horvat had 54 points, 31 of them are goals (which already snapped his career-best of 27 back in 2019), in 49 games. Since the trade Horvat has played 11 games for the Islanders, registering 8 points in that time.  

It’s not that concerning that Horvat’s points pace has slowed down since he left Vancouver. After all, it usually takes players a while to get adjusted to learning the systems of their new team.  Besides, he’s never been an 80+ point player, so we may see his totals drop a bit with the Islanders. Either way, now the Islanders have a true second line center to play behind Mat Barzal.  Their forward core just got a lot better with this addition.

Horvat (27) was in the last year of his contract, which is why Vancouver (a team looking to retool for their future) made him available. The Islanders signed Horvat to an extension for 8 years, worth $64,000,000, or $8,000,000 a season. In response to that extension, Horvat said on Instagram, “Words can’t describe how excited my family and I are to spend the next 8 years as an Islander! Thank you to the @ny-islanders organization for this amazing opportunity.”  

It looks like Bo will be wearing the blue and orange for a very long time. Let’s hope that helps the Islanders’ chances of making the playoffs. They are currently atop the Eastern Conference Wild Card standings. 

On the flip side, Vancouver receives Anthony Beauviller, a 25-year-old winger who has been a 20 goal scorer in the past. Vancouver envisions him as being one of those stable players who they can retool and hopefully still have when the team gets better in a few years.  

One of those pieces they got back is Aatu Raty, the “gem” of the 2021 draft. Drafted in the second round, 52nd overall, Raty was seen as a steal. Early in the 2020-2021 season, there were discussions about if the Finnish winger could go #1 overall, but he ultimately dropped because of concerns with his pace of play. Still, at only 20 years old there is a lot of potential for Raty to unlock his potential in Vancouver.

They also received a conditional 2023 first round pick, the condition being if the pick is a top 12 pick this year, it becomes a 2024 first round pick. Overall, both teams got what they were looking for and I think this was a good trade for both teams. 

Vlad Tarasenko joins the Rangers

After their Conference Final appearance last season, the Rangers added Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane from the Blues and Blackhawks to help out the offense.  

On February 9th, the Rangers traded for sniper Vladimir Tarasenko from St. Louis. Tarasenko, 31, has had a good career with the Blues, but the team hit a setback and decided it would be best to sell one of their best players for future assets.  

Rangers receive:

• Vladimir Tarasenko
• Nikko Mikkola

Blues receive:

• Sammy Blais
• Hunter Skinner
• 2023 conditional first round pick
• 2024 fourth round pick

I think the Rangers absolutely win this trade. Adding Tarasenko, a goal scoring winger the Rangers desperately need on the right side, is crucial. A one time 40 goal scorer, Tarasenko has been dealing with injuries on and off again since 2020 and it has affected his game. But, he can still be an effective top six winger that the Rangers could use. And, in my opinion, the Rangers make out very well in this deal.

They lose Sammy Blais (who has been playing mostly in the minors this year), Hunter Skinner (a decent defensive prospect with top six defenseman upside at best), a 2023 conditional first round pick, and a 2024 fourth. The Rangers have 2 first round picks in 2023, their own and one from the Dallas Stars. The condition of the pick is that St Louis receives whichever one of the picks falls later in the first round. For someone who is likely only a rental, I don’t think this is an extreme overpay or nor do I think the Rangers give up potential they are really going to miss.  

This trade works well for both teams. St. Louis started selling this year due to their unexpected rank in the standings.  Props to the Blues for selling and starting to revamp their team. They now have 3 first round picks in 2023.

It’s Showtime on Broadway

But wait! There’s more. The Rangers added the biggest name on the market on a trade that took place on February 28th. Patrick Kane was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks to the New York Rangers.  

Rangers Receive:

• Patrick Kane (25% salary)

Blackhawks Receive 

• 2023 conditional second round pick
• 2023 fourth round pick
• Paying 50% of Patrick Kane’s cap hit and salary this year

Coyotes Receive:

• 25% of Patrick Kane’s cap hit salary this year (from CHI)
• 2025 3rd round pick (from NYR)

This deal looks complicated at its root because it’s a 3 team trade, but it’s actually quite simple. The Rangers wanted to add Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks wanted to sell him. Kane had a full “no movement clause” in his contract, so he could decide where he wanted to be traded, if at all.  He picked New York.

The Rangers, however, couldn’t afford Kane’s cap hit of 10.5 million dollars, so Chicago retained 50% of the salary for the rest of the year. But still, Kane at 5.25 million dollars was too expensive for the Rangers. So, Chicago trades Kane to Arizona at 50% salary retained. Now, Arizona trades him to the Rangers at 50% retained once more.  So now, the Rangers are only paying Kane 2.625 million dollars this year. The Rangers traded a 3rd round pick to Arizona in exchange for paying some of Kane’s salary.  

Kane’s production this year is at a lower rate than most of his career. This is to be expected, because he’s 34 years old and he was playing on an awful Chicago team that has trouble scoring. In 54 games with Chicago this year, Kane scored 16 goals and 29 assists for 45 points. Not bad, but he’s not the same player who put up 92 points last season.

The Rangers are scary talented on paper. I do have concerns about who on the forward core can play defense because neither Kane nor Tarasenko are known for being helpful in their own end. But, when their top 3 forward lines are a combination of (Kreider-Zibanejad-Tarasenko, Panarin-Trocheck-Kane, Lafreniere-Chytil-Kakko), who honestly cares? If the Rangers can outscore their defensive problems and Igor can hold it down in goal, the Rangers can realistically win the Stanley Cup this year.

It’s Timo Time in Jersey

Devils fans should stop what they’re doing right now and look at their watch. What time is it? It’s Timo Time. 

On February 26th, the New Jersey Devils pulled the trigger and traded for 26-year-old winger Timo Meier.  It was rumored the Devils were in on him for a long time, so it wasn’t a surprise when they traded for him. What is surprising is the return. 

New Jersey Receives:

• Timo Meier 
• Scott Harrington
• Santerri Hatakka 
• Zachary Edmond 
• 2024 fifth round pick

San Jose Receives:

• Fabian Zetterlund 
• Andreas Johnsson 
• Shakir Mukhamadulin
• Nikita Okhoituk 
• 2023 first round pick
• 2024 second round pick

At first glance, it looks like San Jose lost a lot on top of Timo Meier, but that’s not the case. All the players San Jose gave up other than Meier were basically just to fill roster spots. Realistically, the Devils got Meier and a fifth round pick for a lot of assets.

Timo Meier is only 26 years old and he is having another really good year (31 goals, 21 assists, 52 points in 57 games).  The thing about Meier is that he is a restricted free agent after this season, meaning the Devils have more control over his contract after this year. Meier is not a pure rental, and will likely be signed to an extension to be part of the long-term future in New Jersey.

San Jose receives a lot of future assets that could be used to start a rebuild. But who they don’t receive is Dawson Mercer or Alex Holtz, which I’d consider a win for the Devils. Mercer has been effective in his sophomore year with the team and Holtz is considered their best prospect. 

What they do lose are Shakir Mukhamadulin (first round pick in 2020) and a 2023 first round pick. That will definitely help San Jose with its rebuild and future, but I feel like New Jersey doesn’t care about losing those assets. Meier will more than likely be a Devil for a long time. If he resigns after this season, this trade will be worth it.