Hindsight proves Islanders fleeced Canucks in Horvat trade

The New York Islanders pulled off a controversial trade on January 30, 2023. Then-GM Lou Lamoriello launched a pre-emptive assault on the trade deadline by landing Bo Horvat from the Vancouver Canucks.

Horvat, who was the Canucks captain at the time, was heading toward free agency. So, Vancouver had to make a move. It was either re-sign him or send him elsewhere. The Canucks didn’t seem confident in keeping Horvat. Consequently, the Canucks moved Horvat.

Lamoriello had the pieces to make the trade work. Plus, he had the cap space and a contract waiting for Horvat in Long Island.

The deal was done with much criticism and skepticism surrounding the Islanders. The initial reaction was that Lamoriello had overpaid for Horvat. The 27-year-old at the time has scored 31 goals in 49 games in Vancouver. But then, managed just seven goals in 30 games.

The backlash mounted. However, Horvat has been money in the bank since then. He scored 33 goals in 81 games in 2023-24, and 28 last season, amid a dreadful campaign. This season, Horvat is on pace for a career season. He’s notched 14 goals in 23 games. That’s 49 tallies over an 82-game span.

While the Islanders have gotten plenty of bang for their buck, the trade has aged into an outright fleecing for the Isles.

Islanders package for Horvat has turned sour for Canucks

The Islanders paid with center Anthony Beauvillier, prospect Aatu Raty, and a first-round pick. On paper, that wasn’t bad for the Canucks at all.

But what happened to those pieces?

Beauvillier played 55 games for the Canucks in parts of two seasons for the Canucks. He scored 11 goals and 28 points. Not bad, but not good, as Beauvillier was meant to replace Horvat to some degree.

The Canucks then moved Beauvillier for a draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks. Beauvillier turned into a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. However, the conditions were not met, allowing the Blackhawks to keep the pick they had originally gotten from the Calgary Flames in a separate trade.

So, the Canucks ended up getting only 11 goals from Beauvillier and nothing else.

Then, there’s the main piece of the pie, Aatu Raty. Raty was a second-round pick of the Islanders in the 2021 NHL Draft. He projected as a potential top-six center with plenty of hype. He was considered one of, if not the Islanders' top prospect at the time. The Canucks wanted to eventual replacement for Horvat, and Raty figured to be that. While Raty is still just 23 years old, he hasn’t quite panned out. He’s scored one goal and six points in 21 games this season. Vancouver has given him every opportunity to stick with the main club, but has failed to impress.

In his time with the Canucks, the Finnish center has eight goals and 18 points in 57 games. The numbers could be more of an indictment of the Canucks player development than Raty’s skill. While it’s still a bit early to call Raty a bust, he certainly has not turned into the player Vancouver envisaged.

As for the first-round pick, that’s quite a story. The pick was top-12 protected. Since the Islanders made the playoffs in 2022-23, the pick ended up going to the Detroit Red Wings as part of the Canucks-Red Wings trade that landed Filip Hronek in Vancouver.

The Red Wings used the pick to take defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka. Sandin-Pellikka is now a fixture on Detroit’s blue line and looks poised to become a huge piece of the Wings’ future.

In summary, the Canucks got 55 games from Beauvillier, Raty hasn’t panned out, with the first-round pick becoming another team’s best defensive prospect.

As for Horvat, the Islanders have gotten 215 games and 82 goals. Unless Raty turns into a Hart Trophy candidate at some point, it’s easy to proclaim this trade a fleecing for the Islanders.