Grading an interesting Bo Horvat mock trade proposal between Canucks, Bruins originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There’s a good chance Bo Horvat is the most popular name in the rumor mill during the weeks and months leading into the March 3 NHL trade deadline.
It’s not hard to figure out why, either.
For starters, the Vancouver Canucks captain is a fantastic player and a legit No. 1 or No. 2 center. His 22 goals are the fourth-most in the league and he’s on pace to score at a point-per-game level (31 points in 31 games) for the first time in his career.
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Horvat also is in the final year of his contract and reportedly rejected an offer made by the Canucks earlier this season. If the Canucks can’t work out an extension, trading him is probably the smartest route for Vancouver to take.
Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon recently came up with four mock trade proposals involving the Canucks and Horvat. One of the four teams mentioned was the Boston Bruins.
Here is Dixon’s Canucks-Bruins proposal:
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Boston Bruins get: C Bo Horvat and F Aidan McDonough
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Vancouver Canucks get: RW Fabian Lysell, C John Beecher, 2023 first, 2023 sixth
Our grade for this proposal: B
First reaction to this proposal? It would be extraordinarily difficult to give up a prospect of Fabian Lysell’s talent and potential without knowing that Horvat is re-signing. Lysell is one of just two first-round picks the Bruins have made in the last five years, and he’s the only forward in Boston’s prospect pool with star potential. Giving him up for a rental would be a massive gamble. If the Bruins knew they could work out an extension with Horvat — similar to what happened with Hampus Lindholm last season — then that’s a different story.
John Beecher was the other B’s first-round pick over that five-year span, but he has underperformed offensively between his University of Michigan career and time with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. Losing him would not be a significant loss. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported last week that the Canucks are looking for a young NHL-caliber center as part of a return package for Horvat, and the B’s don’t have that kind of player on their roster or prospect pool.
The Bruins’ 2023 first-rounder is among their most valuable trade assets, especially since they don’t own their 2023 or 2024 second-round selections. The 2023 draft is supposed to be one of the best in a while, particularly in Round 1, so giving up that pick would be yet another blow to a Boston prospect pool that already ranks among the league’s worst.
The salary cap could be a significant hurdle here, too. A Horvat extension wouldn’t be cheap, and the Bruins also have to re-sign superstar right winger David Pastrnak, who’s in the final year of his contract. It’s hard to imagine how the Bruins afford Horvat, Pastrnak and put together enough depth around them within the salary cap.
Bonus overages from the Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci contracts are a potential issue for Boston as well, and the cap itself isn’t projected to rise much next season. The Bruins have 10 players on their NHL roster with expiring contracts, and replacing them will require plenty of cap space.
A Horvat trade would be a massive move for a Bruins team that’s potentially going to make its last real run at a Stanley Cup title with this veteran core. But salary cap issues, plus the fact that most other contenders have better assets to offer the Canucks, make it difficult to envision Horvat wearing the Spoked-B at any point in 2022-23.
