- Elliotte Friedman says teams called the Islanders on Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat
- GM Mathieu Darche has no interest in trading either center
- Read below for why the Isles treat both contracts as bargains
The Islanders are hanging onto their two best centers.
Elliotte Friedman reported that New York fielded trade interest on Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat this summer, and GM Mathieu Darche shut it down. He has no plans to move either one. Friedman laid it out on the final 32 Thoughts pod of the season:
Darche has the math on his side. Barzal carries a $9.15 million cap hit and Horvat sits at $8.5 million, and both are signed for five more years. With the cap climbing, those deals now look like bargains instead of anchors.
Together they give New York a real pair of top-six centers. Brayden Schenn is under contract too, which lets Darche bump Barzal to the wing any time he wants more size down the middle.
Barzal put up another solid season on the Island in 2025-26. Here’s a refresher on what he brings:
That interest picked up around the draft, when questions about the roster had rivals poking at New York’s core. Darche isn’t biting.
New York is retooling around Matthew Schaefer and a deep prospect pipeline, and keeping two proven centers gives that young group a veteran base to lean on. The Isles already have trade chatter swirling around other names, but Barzal and Horvat aren’t part of it.
Anyone hoping to pry a center off Long Island will have to get creative, because Barzal and Horvat aren’t going anywhere.
