Not is official until it is official and you never can say never, but it appears Bo Horvat and the Vancouver Canucks are heading for a departure.
As NHLRumors.com has documented over the past week, Horvat and the Canucks have been negotiating a new deal for him to remain with the Canucks. Unfortunately, for the Canucks, those negotiations are going nowhere fast. With the two sides even reportedly breaking off contract talks.
New reports indicate a deal might be tougher to come by with Horvat than originally thought and he appears on the way out of Vancouver.
According to the latest report from CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal all signs point to Horvat being traded. On the December 11th edition of Donnie and Dhali, Dhaliwal indicated that Horvat rejected the Canucks latest and best offer and the team will look to trade.
“The Canucks made an offer to Bo Horvat recently. It was rejected,” said Dhaliwal. “The Canucks have stretched it to as far as they could go, as of right now, I believe they have gone as far as they can go. Even with the number the Canucks were willing to go to, they would have been over the cap at the end of the season… The Canucks will now take the best offer for Bo.”
Now Dhaliwal did not indicate what the salary would be. But he guesses the number is under J.T. Miller‘s cap hit of $8 million. Recall, Miller and the Canucks were heading to a parting of ways along with Brock Boeser before both re-signed with the team.
Considering the start Bo Horvat is having to the season, Miller’s cap hit of $8 million a season is the starting point for negotiation. And as Dhaliwal notes, the Canucks just can’t afford to sign another $8 million player. It would be them over the salary cap for next season considering the other areas of need.
Along with Miller, you can look around the league and see comparables to Horvat and those new contracts start at $8 million a season. The matching eight-year extensions Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas got in St. Louis that carries a cap hit of $8.125 million. Then there is the Roope Hintz contract. That is the icing on the cake as Hintz is getting paid $8.45 million a season.
Horvat’s camp was not going to get lowballed by the Canucks knowing how the market was set by those four contracts alone.
Horvat, the Canucks captain is a pending unrestricted free agent. He has every right to go to free agency. Currently, he is playing out the final year of his six-year contract that carries an annual average salary of $5.5 million.
With 20 goals in 28 games to start the season, Horvat is on pace to eclipse the 31 goals he scored in 70 games last season. And he is only getting better with each passing season.
Recall, the Canucks traded goaltender Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils for the ninth overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft. With that pick they selected Horvat.
Horvat has been an excellent piece for the Canucks. He was named captain in 2019 and led the team to a deep run in the playoff bubble of 2020. However, it seems that his time in Vancouver is coming to an end.
Poor management decisions have gotten to this point. And Horvat has every right to test the free agent market. Thus the Canucks are in a similar situation to Brock Boeser as they will look to move Horvat before the trade deadline.
Now as we saw last year, you can never say never. Boeser and Miller were both out the door last year too until both signed extensions. Both of which seemingly came out of nowhere.
So there is always a silver lining this can get worked out as we have seen when parties can get down to it and actually work out a deal.
However, this one feels different. The fact, that Horvat rejected an offer tells you he is looking for a change of scenery. Vancouver will do everything in their power to trade him and get the best return for him.
