Trade offer on the table for Vancouver’s Bo Horvat!?

Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat may be focused on the current season, teams across the NHL are looking closely at the star forward, who is expected to be move ahead of the trade deadline. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned it again in his latest 32 Thoughts column:

“I don’t believe in absolutes. Feelings change over time. What you think today might not be what you think tomorrow, and everyone should avoid emotional decisions. That said, we’re 11 weeks from the trade deadline, and it’s getting extremely hard to see Bo Horvat wearing a Johnny Canuck reverse retro past March 3.”

Quite a few teams have been said to be interested in acquiring Horvat’s services, including the Colorado Avalanche, but Stefen Rosner of NYI Hockey Now believes the Islanders have checked in with the Canucks about Horvat.

The maths work when it comes to fitting Horvat’s final year of a six-year contract at a cap hit of $5.5 million under New York’s $10.8 million in projected trade deadline cap space. He will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Rosner went further and speculated on what the offer could be, based on what Vancouver needs to build a stronger future:

“Islanders’ top prospect, centerman Aatu Räty holds significant value in the trade market. Räty, being a two-way center, could be intriguing for Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin, especially when he is trading one.

"Also, if Vancouver does move Horvat, it likely means they are going into a complete rebuild. And Räty is not a bad piece to help get a turnaround started.

"But the Islanders also have a few defensive prospects that could get the job done. There’s no question that the Islanders’ 2023 first-round pick will also need to be in play.

"The Islanders have a few backend prospects that could be included in second-round picks Samuel Bolduc (2019) and Calle Odelius (2022).”

It makes sens that Horvat would go for a high price. He on pace for a career-high 59 goals this season, putting up 21 goals and 20 points in 29 games so far.

On last night’s Insider Trading on TSN, Darren Dreger also describe what the Canucks would seek in a Horvat trade, besides shedding money off their cap.

“They’d like to add a young NHL centreman. They’d also like to add a young NHL right-shot defenseman. So those are the three specific Vancouver Canucks needs.”

There remains hope in Vancouver that the Canucks could resume contract discussions with Horvat leading up to the trade deadline, the money is tight to retain Horvat and address other roster priorities like re-signing Andrei Kuzmenko next summer.

If an offer from the Islanders - or any contender for that matter - makes sense, Friedman might be right about his feeling towards Horvat staying in Vancouver after March, 3.

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