Bo Horvat will serve as an alternate captain for the 2024-25 season and beyond.
Bo Horvat will serve as an alternate captain for the 2024-25 season and beyond.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- With Cal Clutterbuck not returning, the New York Islanders had an alternate captain position that needed to be filled ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Former Vancouver Canucks captain and second full-year Islanders forward Bo Horvat will be the recipient of the "A."
"It just felt natural," Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said about choosing Horvat for the open leadership role. "We have so many good leaders in this club. When talking with Lou [Lamoriello], we felt like he was ready. He was the captain in Vancouver, and he was ready to step up there.
"But, I mean, did we have team meetings over this? No, it just happened naturally. There's a lot of guys that could have been assistants. We got tons of good leaders on this team."
Horvat donned the "C" in Vancouver from the start of the 2019 season until the Islanders acquired him on Jan. 30, 2023.
Now, he joins alternate captain Brock Nelson and team captain Anders Lee as the team's official leaders.
"Anytime you get an opportunity like this, it's special," Horvat told The Hockey News. "You don't take that lightly. You just try to work with class, perform every single game, and lead by example."
Although Horvat has leadership experience, he's learned a lot from Clutterbuck and the other team leaders.
"I just think those guys have worn a letter for so many years and have been part of really good teams, and they know what to do on a daily basis," Horvat said. "Whether it's on the ice or off the ice, they lead by example. So, I'm just trying to take that in and do it myself."
It seemed that Horvat was destined for a letter on Long Island the moment he stepped foot inside the team's practice facility, already with a signed eight-year contract in hand.
He's been an incredible fit in the lineup alongside Mathew Barzal, fitting the team like a glove.
"This is who he is," Lee told THN. "He's a high-character guy who plays the right way and acts the right way. He's a true professional, and I think we knew that right away the second he came in here. It's been a joy working with him.
"He's one of the guys in the room who knows when to say something and knows when to hold back. He does it the right way,"
Nelson, who became a full-time alternate captain ahead of the 2023-24 season after Josh Bailey's departure, said that all Horvat's done since coming here is push everyone in the room to raise their game.
"Just the way he carries himself on and off the ice, he goes about his business, works extremely hard, cares a lot about winning, cares a lot about himself, and holds himself to a high standard," Nelson said. "And I think that, in itself, is contagious for guys. You see that, and I think it pushes other guys around him to be better. It also pushes him. So, it's just a continuous cycle of demanding a lot out of yourself.
"But I think, as a leader, as an athlete, and a player like him, that's just something that all those guys have. I think it's awesome to have that in this room because I think it just pushes everybody."
Having Horvat around has been incredibly valuable for younger players like Noah Dobson and Simon Holmstrom.
"It's been seamless for him ever since he came here. He's a great guy in the room, a great player, a big player for us," Dobson said. "He leads by example. He's been and is a big part of what we have going on here."
Holmstrom said that he's been more than just a teammate for him.
"He's been awesome to me. He's always been there and helped me out, and he will always talk with me," Holmstrom said. "He's been a great role model. He's just an unbelievable person and a great player."
For veterans like Casey Cizikas and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, no one is more deserving.
"From day one, he's been nothing but great in this locker room," Cizikas said. "He shows why he deserves that. He knows what it takes to lead a locker room, so I think that's a no-brainer with him. What he's brought to this organization has been irreplaceable."
What's stood out to Pageau about Horvat is just how positive he is.
"We all obviously know how he is on the ice, how he competes every shift. That's leadership on the ice. And I think we all see it. You guys all see it," Pageau said. "But in the room, he's always positive. He comes in with a smile every morning. It's contagious in the room, and you need that.
"It's a long season, and there are a lot of games filled with ups and downs and adversity. And if you don't come in and you're not positive, then it's not going to work out. And I think he's keeping himself accountable and always puts in the extra work. When you're around, and you see that, it pushes the guy next to you to be better. And that's what he does."
A coach needs to trust the leaders in the room, and Patrick Roy certainly trusts Horvat with the most challenging tasks.
"I have only positives to say about him. What I love about Bo is he's eager to learn. He wants to play that 200-foot game that we need, and he's asking questions. He wants to get better at it.
"We need him to come on the ice at the end of games and close out the game. And that's a role that he wants to play as well. So we have a lot of good leaders. We got a lot of good guys that could finish those games, but Bo is certainly one of them."
The Islanders aren't likely to officially announce Horvat as an alternate captain until the puck drops on Oct. 10 at UBS Arena for the team's season-opener against the Utah Hockey Club.