Horvat, who said he was congratulated by Lee, said he doesn’t plan to change the way he operates.
“Obviously there’s things that I have to do on a daily basis, like lead by example. I’m not going to be the loudest guy in the room. It’s just not who I am,” Horvat said. “Trying to lead by example on and off the ice is my biggest thing and just continue to keep pushing forward and getting better. Any way I can help the team is what I’m going to try to do.”
Schaefer, selected by the Islanders with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and last season’s winner of the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year, said he was ecstatic to see Horvat get the honor.
“It’s awesome. So many guys can learn so much from him,” Schaefer said. “Coming from a former team, he was the captain there, and everybody respects him and listens to what he has to say. So it’s awesome. Even if he wasn’t wearing a letter, everyone looks up to him still. It’s going to be awesome if we have any young guys, but all the guys because they respect him so much, and he is such a great leader.”
Schaefer is ready to learn from Horvat and the rest of the leadership group to hopefully one day get the honor for the organization.
“There’s so many vets. I’m still 19. I want to learn from them and hopefully in the future, I can better my abilities, and we’ll see how they handle things because it’s a lot of pressure sometimes when you have to make sure you’re at your best all the time,” Schaefer said. “But honestly, I think if you just be yourself, if you have leadership qualities and stuff like that, I think everything falls into place, and especially when guys respect you for who you are.”
Horvat knows the illustrious list of players who have been the captain of the Islanders and is ready to leave his mark.
“Starting with Anders and (Denis) Potvin, Doug Weight, (John) Tavares when he was there, guys like that, there’s a huge history in this organization and a successful history,” Horvat said. “And we want to repeat that. The ultimate goal is to win a Stanley Cup here and to bring a Stanley Cup back to Long Island. I want to be a reason that happens. I think we’re building towards that. I really truly believe in this organization, ‘Darchy’ (general manager Mathieu Darche), and what we have here, what we’re trying to build. I want to be a big part of that.”
Horvat has 618 points (300 goals, 318 assists) in 881 regular-season games, including 198 points (99 goals, 99 assists) in 260 games for New York. He is entering the fourth season of an eight-year contract he signed with the Islanders on Feb. 5, 2023, six days after he was acquired in the trade.
The Islanders, who open training camp this week, will begin their regular season at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sept. 30.
Nine NHL teams are without a captain: the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks and Canucks.