Full breakdown of Bo Horvat's 68 million dollar contract.

The New York Islanders pulled off what was honestly something of a surprising move on Sunday when they announced that they had signed former Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat to a max term contract. The move was surprising only due to the fact that Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello is often loathe to give out big money to any player, something he appeared to confirm today when asked about the $68 million that Horvat will earn over the course of his newly minted 8 year contract.

"It's too long and it's too much money," said the Islanders GM.

In typical Lou Lamoriello fashion the Islanders also did not disclose the financial terms of the deal or really any information about the details of Horvat's new contract other than to confirm it would be over an 8 year term. That being said this information always inevitably leaks to the public and that is once again the case, with some interesting nuances to Horvat's new contract being revealed.

Although most of you reading this probably already know Horvat's contract will break down to a cap hit of $8.5 million for the Islanders, but what you wouldn't have known is how the deal is structured. Interestingly, Horvat will earn the same amount each season and most interesting of all is the fact that his new deal comes with absolutely no signing bonuses.

Here is how the deal breaks down year on year as per Cap Friendly:
Yr 1: $8.5M
Yr 2: $8.5M
Yr 3: $8.5M
Yr 4: $8.5M
Yr 5: $8.5M
Yr 6: $8.5M
Yr 7: $8.5M
Yr 8: $8.5M

Some were quick to point out that $8.5 million per season was a big price to pay for Horvat, but the structure of his new deal may actually help explain this. The lack of signing bonuses means that the Islanders will have a much easier time buying out Horvat in the final years of his contract, a factor that was no doubt considered in negotiations by both Lamoriello and Horvat's camp as well. It could even be the case that the Islanders inked this deal knowing full well that a buyout could be a likely scenario before the end of the 8 year term.

There will also be significant trade protection throughout this deal for Horvat, with the bulk of that coming in the early years of the deal. In the first four years of his contract, Horvat will be protected by a full no trade clause which no doubt suits the Islanders just fine given that this deal would indicate they plan of having him play a role on their team for the foreseeable future.

In the latter half of his deal, the final 4 years, Horvat will lose some of that trade protection when his no trade clause will become a modified no trade clause, one that will allow him to submit a 16 team no trade list at the start of each and every season.