Zibanejad is a much more complete player than Bo

Doesn't mean that he's 1st line caliber

Miller is still scoring at a 70+ point pace, I'd say that's pretty good for what everybody is chalking up as a down season

Doesn't change the fact that this contract likely isn't going to age well one way or another

Vancouver's back wasn't against the wall, what nonsense are you going on about?

Wouldn't want the Canucks to sign Horvat to those terms even if they had the cap space

First, he signed for 8.5 mill. Second, he doesn't have all of the hockey media critiquing his defensive play. Last, he hasn't had 2 players make fun of him one game either

I get you're mad that you traded Horvat and kept Miller but that doesn't mean than Miller is better than Horvat (it's the opposite)

I voted no.

This signing is a gross overpayment and the Islanders couldn't find better ways to spend 8.5 million in cap space.




The only way someone could justify this as a good signing would be to argue that it prevented Horvat from walking out as a UFA.

In that case, the Islanders would have spent Beauvillier + Raty + 1st round pick on one playoff run with Horvat that might never happen.




My earlier point is that even if the Horvat signing was a good one, it doesn't justify or excuse making a bad trade to bring him in.

I apologize for the lack of clarity.

This deal is likely going to be rough. I know people think this somehow alters the value of the trade, but honestly I think it makes it worse, as this contract has a strong chance to age like Milk.

Horvat is a very good player, but he's having a career year at 27, and the 8.5M AAV won't be bad for a few years necessarily, but he's probably not outplaying it by much, and those later years didn't bring the AAV down nearly enough. What's worse is that this seems to be a big bet that he and Barzal will have instant chemistry and completely change the Islanders ability to create offense at 5 on 5 and on the powerplay. Horvat isn't a driver of offense, and he's going from a team that had more offensive talent surrounding him that he is going to have now, playing an offense-first style, and who was still pretty mediocre offensively, to a team where he's now going to have to be the complete focus of the attack in a tougher conference. What makes this trade bad is that Horvat could play at the higher end of his reasonable expectations, and this trade is still awful. He basically needs to be a 50+ goal center for the foreseeable future for this to be remotely acceptable. Lou seemingly paid a lot of assets to get a jump on the market, and this is the deal he gets from that?

ownership probably made him make the move

I knew whoever signed horvat will regret it later. Im gonna vote no.

First, you said he could potentially get $10 mil. Second, his defensive metrics are roughly the same as Miller. Last, I honestly don't know what you're referring to, so ok.

You were the one who brought up Miller. I'm happy we traded Horvat and wish we would have traded Miller as well. I've watched both of them play for 3 years in the same system and still think Miller is a better player. Horvat is an elite finisher and has a sick toe drag move but Miller is way more dynamic of a player, IMO.

Stamkos, Draisaitl, and Zibanejad have been PPG, Forsberg Near that, and Sergachev is having one of his best season in the NHL after signing

Forsberg and Zibanejad haven't even made it to year 2 of their contracts yet, and Sergachev is still playing on his old contract, hard to say they have already "lived up" to the contract. And the fact of the matter is to suggest every single player has lived up to their 8x8.5+ is silly.

Yes, I said he could have gotten 10 mill but he didn't and I brought up Miller because the choice Vancouver had was Horvat or Miller. Last, Peterson and Kuzmenko made fun of him during the Columbus Blue Jackets and Vancouver game (before all-star break). Saying Miller is more dynamic is a choice of words of course

After Pasta, he'd have been the best UFA on the market this summer, he'd easily have been able to get this AAV from someone, probably a touch more. Isles couldn't get Gadreau or Kadri to take their money, so if they had to overpay a bit to get this deal done so be it. Only so many top 6 forwards come to market before they're past their prime and the Isles now have one of them.

The Fisherman strikes again!

I don’t understand why teams rush out to sign a player they’ve just acquired before he’s even played a game for them. There are three main reasons to give up assets to acquire a pending UFA near the end of his contract:

1) Immediate value as a rental.
2) First crack at signing him to his next contract, if you want to.
3) You can see how well he fits in with your team before you decide whether to commit to him long term.

The first one is easy – it’s an attempt to fill a short-term need without the risk of a long-term commitment. Getting first crack at re-signing him has value too, but in my opinion, the test drive is actually more valuable. The player is already on the path to becoming a UFA – that’s usually why he was available. To get him off that path, you’re going to have to give him a contract that’s at least as good as he thinks he can get as a UFA, so you haven’t really saved anything – it’s still costing you his UFA market value or more to sign him. I think the test drive is more valuable because the cost of being stuck with a bad contract is huge. Signing anybody long term always carries some risk, but in my opinion, that risk is greatly reduced if you’re signing a player who’s already playing for you. If you sign a guy who’s never played for you, then that’s pretty much the same as signing a UFA. So then what have you gained by trading for him? You’ve neither saved money on signing him nor reduced the risk of him not working out and leaving you stuck with a bad contract.

Theoretically, that does make sense, but I just don't see how that contract ages well. It's really looking like Lou's old school sensibilities are starting to betray him

Miller is scoring at a better pace than Horvat has since the trade. Hell, Beauvillier scoring at a better pace than Horvat since the trade.

This trade/signing is looking worse by the game

He's a minus 2 with the Islanders so far and hasn't earned a point in five games. Yikes. I knew he wouldn't get as many points in New York, but I didn't think this would happen.