Bo Horvat needs to step up starting tonight vs. the Maple Leafs. “Stepping up” means scoring, which he had done very little of recently.
The Islanders fired Patrick Roy as their head coach on Easter Sunday after the players stopped listening to him. But let’s not put all the blame on Roy’s shoulders.
If the Islanders make the playoffs, it won’t be because of coaching; it will be because the veterans start performing. Anders Lee, Mat Barzal, Bo Horvat, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau have underperformed, and Horvat is the No. 1 culprit. Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello acquired him from the Vancouver Canucks in early ’23 with the idea that he had found a star who could lead the Islanders for years to come.
Has that happened? Hell, no! Horvat has been a disappointment, then and now. He hasn’t scored a goal in five games. Prior to scoring a goal in the Islanders’ 1-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 22, he hadn’t scored a goal in five games. In January, he didn’t score a goal.
Bo Horvat (photo courtesy The Province)
Yes, he leads the Islanders with 30 goals, but that number means nothing if he doesn’t step up now, and “now” means tonight vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s a must-time game, as are the other remaining regular-season contests, including Saturday vs. the Senators, Sunday vs. the Canadiens, and Tuesday vs. the Hurricanes. All are home contests.
Horvat comes off as a player who only scores where there’s no pressure on him. In other words, he’s a stat-padded scorer. That’s an ultimate insult to a player, and now he is playing for his Islander jersey.
It’s easy to say playing in the Olympics took a toll on him, but that’s offering an excuse. Many hockey players played in the Olympics, and they have done well. Horvat’s problem comes from being so streaky. Plus, his struggles late in the year have been a theme in his Islander tenure.
Sure, there have been plenty of other Islanders who have been a bust, but Horvat stands out since he is playing for a team that has contended for the playoffs in his time here. Fans want the Islanders to make the playoffs this year, and he has become the brunt of frustration with everything going wrong for him and the team.
There’s an excellent chance he could be traded this offseason as part of the team’s housecleaning, even if he finishes strong under new coach Pete DeBoer and plays in the postseason. There’s no way the Islanders can justify paying him a fortune if he can’t elevate them.
The Islanders need to build around the young players in their farm system, alongside Cal Ritchie, Matthew Schaefer, Maxim Shabanov, and Emil Heineman, and also weed out underachievers who impede the club development that GM/Exec VP Mathieu Darche seeks to create. Besides, Horvat could use a change of scenery where his complementary player skill set could be better appreciated with a team like the Dallas Stars.
The time in NY is now for Horvat. Can he? Will he? In five days, we’ll have the answers.
