Morning Skate: Shopping

Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesThe 2023 NHL Trade Deadline is a little more than a month away, but the New York Islanders kicked off the shopping spree in a big way last night.

The Isles, not exactly a team at the top of anyone’s list of Cup contenders, went big and acquired Bo Horvat from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Anthony Beauvilier, Aatu Raty, and a top-12 protected first round pick in this year’s draft.

While it’d be silly to claim this trade will lead to a flood of deals this far ahead of the deadline, the first big piece moving often sets up a chain reaction of other deals, so...we’ll see.

It’s a pretty big price to pay for a pending UFA, especially…