The New York Islanders have signed Bo Horvat to an eight-year contract extension, according to the sources and as officially confirmed by the team. The deal is worth $8.5 million per season and locks Horvat in before he’s officially played a game for his new team. Horvat was set to be a pending unrestricted free agent at the season’s end and this deal will negate the need for him to test the market and go to the highest bidder.

Horvat joins the Islanders for a playoff push after being traded by the Vancouver Canucks ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline. The hope is that his offense and ability to score goals will put the Islanders in a playoff spot.

GM Lou Lamoriello would not give specifics on Bo Horvat’s contract. All he would say is that, “It’s too long and it’s too much money.” Lamoriello is not keen on the cost of doing business but this was a player that the organization liked and they believe he’ll help their struggling offense, specifically their power play. He wanted to get Horvat locked into a deal to avoid any distractions and the GM made a pitch well before free agency to ensure he had enough time to negotiate a deal.

Horvat is a top-six center who is having a career year. He’s scored 31 goals in 49 games so far this season and has already matched his career-best goalscoring figure he set last season in 21 fewer games. Just 27, this deal will take him to the age of 35.

Horvat was an All-Star this season, playing for the Islanders, but in the Western Conference. Time will tell if he can repeat the season he’s having and if he’ll be worth $8.5 million per year. If this campaign is an outlier, will the Islanders be stuck with an overpayment? Or, will the fact that the salary cap is set go up over the next few years make Horvat’s new deal a bargain?

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