Yes, I know some people don't like my negativity, but after a day or two digesting this don't see this working for a lot of obvious reasons.
Standingds don't lie, they are doing this at best for two playoff seeds/likely one. Out of bubble teams many are better then their record, or on the rise (some for too many years/overdue) or like Caps/Pens can go win another 9/10 and close out the spot. New York has to win 9/10 for openers because another team will.
How does this helicopter team with four centers signed long-term find a spot at center for a 5th? Barzal did not re-sign to go be a full time winger, Nelson is a career center. Pageau is a career 30 point center on a six year deal/Cizikas also has a 6 year deal, and despite being shifted to wing is not the player or has the scoring ability to make this work which is what Lamoriello said is up to Lane Lambert. Horvat is a top two center, for him to stay Barzal or Nelson or he has to change career position to be a forward, why would Horvat re-sign by the trade deadline for this long term?
Lamoriello can't wait, it's sign Horvat by the deadline or have to get back draft picks/players lost in this deal, they wait until summer & come out of this with nothing but a barren prospect system/no top pick again would be the blueprint Lamoriello left in New Jersey which left them a bad team to the present after 2012.
Why would Horvat not wait until the summer when he can pick/choose with his family? That's what practically everyone does, and the Queens border/trees at the failed Belmont experiment will never be a destination, it's not a major city. Sorokin's agent is watching, he's wasting career seasons here, without him this franchise is 14th or 15th, same as last year, and he's going to want 8/10 million a year if he does not want to pick/choose among 30 plus teams who would line up for his services.
This team scored about a goal a game for thirteen games, are around 1/60 on their powerplay. The one three goal game they had Washington came back & not only won but beat them up all over the ice, it was the most defining game of the season. Right now this team is the opposite of Doug Weight's 2017-2018 can't defend/allow 45 shots a game team, it just can't score to save their lives on a historic level now. 1-2 goals every single game for this long is simply a collapse because they have so many old veterans who can't skate/score who eat minutes/don't produce.
These are my reasons Bo Horvat will likely only be here to the trade deadline. Lamoriello also needed to clear a struggling player or three in this trade, now he's going to lose another first round pick, and already lost Raty, and despite Beauvillier's huge struggles for far too long that mandated a change of scenery, on this team a 25 year old forward is a big loss because they don't have another one.
Horvat is a nice player having a career year on a very bad Canucks team, New York beat and put up their final crooked number which was a month ago, but there is a ton working against this trade. Why would he sign in a month or 12 games left/whatever. How can they again come out of this with nothing. It's one thing to lose Tavares, another to not get any return, you want those trades where the returns last a decade or more with new picks/players, it's been a big part of the NYI decline since March of 2020.
Yes, you want/need happy talk only, and some are not shy about letting me know I'm always negative which is a not true because I was optimistic about many losing teams here. Told you they would be a playoff team in 2018-19 without Tavares on 7/1/18, and was mighty happy as they simply ran over teams that year, and started doing it again in 2019-20 before the window slammed shut in Feburary 2020 for good only to be masked by Covid tournaments/short seasons that they limped into or were given a bubble play-in to qualify based on 68/56 games before it could not longer be hidden this was a franchise in deep decline by many of Lamoriello's decisions. He's done a solid job on defense making it younger/rebuilding at cost of a first rounder, but for the forward group that's not possible. There are reasons the same teams miss the playoffs five year or more, the NYI have likely joined that group now, and are at the back of the line rebuilding.
