Boston would surrender significant future assets to land Bo Horvat from the New York Islanders in a proposed trade addressing its long-standing hole at center.
The five-for-two framework, detailed by a user at PuckGM and circulating Wednesday would send Pavel Zacha, Mason Lohrei and Matthew Poitras to Long Island, testing whether Boston’s front office values immediate certainty over developing talent.
Bo Horvat Would Give Bruins Rare Center Certainty
GettyPavel Zacha #18 of the Boston Bruins.
Horvat, 31, signed an eight-year, $68 million contract extension with the Islanders in February 2023, carrying a flat $8.5 million cap hit through the 2030-31 season. He’s controllable through age 36, with a full no-trade clause that eases into a 16-team modified list in the deal’s back half, according to PuckPedia.
That kind of term is exactly what Boston has been missing, and Bruins president Cam Neely said as much this offseason.
“We all in this room recognize we don’t have a true No. 1 center, and that’s something that we want to try to rectify, whether it’s this offseason or those guys growing into it. But it’s something that we know that’s needed,” Neely said, as quoted by Boston Hockey Now‘s Jack Studley.
Zacha broke out in 2025-26 with 30 goals and 65 points in 78 games, but he’s long profiled as a high-end second-line center rather than a true No. 1, a distinction The Athletic‘s Harman Dayal reinforced when he slotted Boston’s center duo into his rankings’ seventh tier, labeled as a “Major Weakness.”
Elias Lindholm hasn’t solved the problem either. Back issues and two seasons under 50 points have left him looking like a faceoff-heavy third-line option rather than the difference-maker Boston expected. Prospects Fraser Minten and James Hagens carry promise, but neither projects as a ready-made No. 1 center for 2026-27, exactly the gap Horvat would close immediately.
Islanders Return Highlights Cost of Bo Horvat Trade
GettyMason Lohrei #6 of the Boston Bruins.
Zacha carries a $4.75 million cap hit through 2027, Lohrei is signed for $3.2 million through the same season, and Poitras remains a restricted free agent after Boston issued him a qualifying offer in June, according to Boston Hockey Now.
That package, plus a 2028 first-round pick and a fourth-rounder, gives New York controllable, cost-effective pieces without fully rebuilding the roster around Horvat’s exit. For a Boston team that already spent first-round capital acquiring JJ Peterka from the Utah Mammoth this offseason, it’s a lot to give up.
The cap math favors Boston more than it would have a few years ago, with a rising ceiling helping absorb Horvat’s flat $8.5 million hit. New York would shed that long-term number for shorter, more flexible contracts, giving the front office room if the Islanders lean toward a retool.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has stopped short of chasing a blockbuster.
“Our centers, by committee, have done a good job,” Sweeney said, noting that true No. 1 options rarely reach the trade market at all.
Nothing suggests the Islanders are actively shopping Horvat, and the price Boston would pay looks steep next to typical returns for a center his age. The idea makes far more sense as a deadline scenario than an August blockbuster, but it captures exactly the kind of move Boston will keep being connected to until it solves its center problem.
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