Canucks reportedly looking to trade Bo Horvat amid stalled contract talks
Horvat #Horvat
The Canucks could be looking for a new captain in the near future.
Vancouver reportedly made a contract extension offer to forward Bo Horvat in recent weeks but the 27-year-old declined, per insider Rick Dhaliwal. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun added the Canucks are now “focused on the trade market” with that offer rejected.
Terms of the proposed deal are unknown, but Horvat would be in line for a sizeable raise given he is still in his prime and is enjoying a productive 2022-23 campaign. The London, Ont., native is currently in the final year of a six-year, $33-million pact ($5.5 million cap hit) signed in 2017.
Horvat’s play has been a bright spot in what has been a tumultuous season for the Canucks so far. Rumours have been swirling for weeks about head coach Bruce Boudreau’s job security as the Canucks stumbled out of the gate with a number of gut-wrenching losses. The club has managed to climb up the standings lately, currently sitting three points back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a record of 12-13-2.
Horvat has recorded 20 goals in 28 games, which puts him on pace to blow away his career-high mark of 31 tallies set in 2021-22. If he is indeed available on the trade market, the list of suitors should be long, as he can slide into the top-six of just about any team in the league.
The ninth-overall pick in the 2013 draft isn’t the only Canuck surfacing in the rumour mill, as fellow forward Brock Boeser could also find himself in a different sweater come the March 3 trade deadline. Vancouver recently gave Boeser’s agent permission to talk to opposing teams about a potential trade, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Pivotal few months on the horizon for the Canucks franchise, no doubt.
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