Whatever the Islanders say about this feeling like a new roster, it won’t change the fact that their opening night lineup, right now, projects to include 18 of the same 19 players who played in Game 6 of the playoffs against Carolina.
The case that this year will be more than a standard deviation away from the 2022-23 campaign that finished with 93 points and a first-round loss hinges on a few factors, none bigger than Bo Horvat being on Long Island from Day 1 instead of Jan. 31.
Not only should Horvat play the full season instead of the 30 games the Islanders got after trading for him ahead of the All-Star break last year, he should be more at ease — and thus more effective.
“I’m sick of the summer training and all that,” Horvat said at the team’s annual golf outing Monday. “I want to get going here.”
Horvat proved an effective player for the Islanders down the stretch last season, but the plan to play him alongside Mathew Barzal quickly went out the window when Barzal got hurt seven games into Horvat’s tenure.
That, coupled with Horvat’s scoring pace dropping off massively, overshadowed much of his contributions.
After rushing back for the playoffs, Barzal is at full strength for training camp, which begins Thursday.
And Horvat’s career numbers indicate his 8.1 shooting percentage over 30 games with the Islanders last year was just as much of an anomaly as his 21.7 percent mark in 49 games with Vancouver.
So his scoring pace should rise, although the 50-goal mark he looked ready to challenge for at one point last season is probably out of the question.
“Not sure what the plan is here, but hopefully, we can rekindle what we had,” Horvat said of Barzal. “It was a lot of fun to play with him when he was healthy. It was tough for him and I — especially him — coming back into the playoff series the way he did, it’s never easy. And I’m just looking forward to both of us getting a training camp under our belt and kind of hit the ground running.”
The Islanders will surely try out different configurations throughout training camp and the season.
But Barzal said he expects to start camp next to Horvat, and still believes their skill sets match up well, despite both being natural centers.
“He’s obviously a beast in the circle. He’ll take a lot of faceoffs,” Barzal said. “I’m sure if there’s a situation when I’m in the middle and he’s on the wall, we’ll roll with it. We’re both smart enough to adjust on the fly.”
Mentally, this also figures to be a much easier year for Horvat.
Last season at this time, he was the captain of a Canucks team that went on to have an epic disaster of a year, with the drawn-out firing of coach Bruce Boudreau, and trade rumors were swirling after the team extended J.T. Miller but not him.
Now, he is locked into eight years with the Islanders — an organization that is the polar opposite to Vancouver in terms of stability.
A cross-country move he had to complete on the fly last year is done.
He is used to how things are done here.
“He jumped on a moving train,” coach Lane Lambert said. “I thought he did a pretty good job of it as well. What is a little bit behind the scenes that isn’t seen is family and things like that. That all plays a factor into a guy’s, sometimes, performance. And I think him having a summer and getting acclimatized to Long Island and to his new teammates is gonna be great for him.”
Horvat, who made the drive from the Toronto area to Long Island after Labor Day weekend, is starting to explore the area — something he didn’t have much time to do last year.
He joked about being open to suggestions for good places to take his family.
The overriding element that didn’t exist last year was one of calm.
“Being able to skate with the guys, being able to have a season under my belt, this season’s gonna be a lot better,” he said. “And last year was kinda hectic. So I’m looking forward to building on that.”