CALGARY, Alberta — The Islanders originally planned for Bo Horvat to be with them throughout this seven-game road trip that continues Saturday afternoon in Calgary.
The plan is now for their star centerman to stay in New York for the duration.
That does not constitute a setback in Horvat’s recovery from a lower-body injury, general manager Mathieu Darche told The Post and Newsday after the Islanders practiced Friday.
He is skating on his own in New York. With it unlikely that Horvat would have played in Vancouver or Seattle, it simply didn’t make much sense for him to lose a day on the ice while traveling out west, plus deal with game and practice schedules that would not accommodate him as well as staying at home.
Horvat has been skating for about three days, Darche said, and there is a possibility — though certainly not a guarantee — that he plays when the Islanders are back at home against the Sabres on Jan. 24.
If this was the playoffs, Horvat might be playing, but the Islanders have the luxury of caution right now and intend to use it.
The belief is still that Horvat will return with a fair amount of runway before the Olympic break, and his ability to represent Team Canada at the Milan Games is not in jeopardy.
Though some Islanders fans — remembering John Tavares’ knee injury at the Sochi Olympics — are understandably worried about Horvat getting hurt a third time in Italy, there is almost no chance that Horvat, nor any other player for that matter, would opt out of the Olympics over injury worries, even with the ice at Milan’s Santagiulia Arena being a major question mark hanging over the event.
Tony DeAngelo, who was with the Rangers when they sent out their 2018 Letter announcing a retool, reminisced a bit Friday after Blueshirts general manager Chris Drury sent out a similar missive to fans.
“I was one of the young guys, so it was probably beneficial for me,” DeAngelo said. “There was a lot of good players, we wound up getting a lot of good assets. They went on a five-, six-year run there, it was pretty good. It made sense for the team.
“As players, especially as a young player, kinda was just along for the ride and seeing what they did. Fortunately, I was able to be part of a couple good years there. And I left there, they kept building. Two conference finals. For our sake 1768621585 it’s nice to hear there’s a little retool going on, but I’m sure it’ll all work out there.”
David Rittich will start in net against the Flames on Saturday.