The New York Islanders pulled off the first huge trade of the year, acquiring Bo Horvat from the Vancouver Canucks. Horvat was one of the biggest pieces on the market, and Lou Lamoriello paid a huge price to get him. The Islanders gave up a protected first-round pick, Aaty Raty, and Anthony Beauvillier for Horvat with 25% of his salary retained.
New Jersey Devils fans are afraid this is going to “set the market” for a possible Timo Meier trade. The Devils fanbase really wants Meier to come at a sane price. Honestly, they wouldn’t mind paying the same price as the Islanders just paid for Horvat. That’s basically like giving up Alexander Holtz, Michael McLeod, and a protected first-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft.
Obviously, the price for Meier will be more. He’s a restricted free agent instead of an unrestricted one. While Meier has a $10 million qualifying offer, the Devils would at least keep his rights this offseason. That raises his price quite a bit.
However, the trades for Horvat and Meier are apples to oranges. We talked about the differences in contracts. There are also major differences in the player and the situation. Let’s first focus on the players. Horvat is a pure scorer who has incredible touch. He is having his best season at the best possible time, his contract year.
Meanwhile, Meier is another player having his best season at the best possible time. He has 28 goals going into the All-Star break. He’s seven goals away from his career high. He’s already matched his career high in power-play goals. This is a player who always had a scoring touch, but he’s crushing any expectations we had for him.
Then, there’s the situation. Meier is on a San Jose Sharks team looking to start a likely lengthy rebuild. They want pieces that will help in the future. The Canucks probably prioritized a player that would help them soon, which Raty likely does. He’s close to NHL-ready and has been in the lineup as of late. Maybe Holtz can do that, but the Canucks probably ask for Dawson Mercer instead (which would be preposterous).
Then, there is the timing of this. It’s January 30th. For a team like the Canucks to trade one of their best players, the return has to be overwhelming. There is more than a month until the March 3rd deadline. The Islanders desperately needed a spark to get back into the playoff race. The Devils need a player who can help them maintain their position in the Metropolitan Division. They won’t pay a premium just to get this done early.
The Devils don’t need to worry about the Islanders “setting the market.” This didn’t do that for Meier. Maybe it sets a price for a player like Vladimir Tarasenko, but even that one seems much different because of the situation. Let the market play out, and then we’ll see what the Devils have to pay for Meier or another player on the market.