TAMPA, Fla. — What-ifs are a common mental game in the NHL, as it’s just human nature to wonder about the path not taken. For instance, how would this season’s Islanders look if Brock Nelson had accepted former president and general manager Lou Lamoriello’s extension offer rather than being traded to the Avalanche in a deal that returned swiftly developing rookie center Cal Ritchie?

“You always look back,” Bo Horvat told Newsday. “I play that game all the time, for sure. Going back to my Vancouver days, what if this, what if that? That’s another one. What if Brock stayed ? Everything happens for a reason, that’s the way I look at it. I’m sure he’s happy where he is and we’re happy with where we’re at.”

The Islanders will open a back-to-back Florida swing on Saturday night against the

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