Ryan Gurevitz
December 14th, 2022
While the Canucks are certainly not down and out this early in the season, I believe they are far from contending for the Stanley cup and may not be able to do so for several more years. As things stand, the Canucks cap situation is not one that can fit another 8x8 contract into the forward core without other money being moved. Given most of the team’s money has been invested into untouchable assets such as Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, as well as cap catastrophes such as Tyler Myers and Oliver Ekman Larsson, moving a valuable asset may be a move required to allow the Canucks some wiggle room when their younger players need another pay raise.
As I am writing this the Canucks are squaring off against their arch-nemesis the Calgary Flames, Canucks captain Bo Horvat has already notched one goal in the first 2 minutes of play. While Horvat’s scoring has undoubtedly been a positive of the season so far, his name has been making headlines for other reasons.
Various sources have reported recently that Bo Horvat may leave Vancouver soon as extension talks for the pending unrestricted free agent have gone nowhere. Rick Dhaliwal most recently reported that the Canucks had sent their best offer to Horvat’s camp and that he rejected it, meaning Patrik Allvin will likely begin seriously fielding offers to trade Horvat to the highest bidder by the March trade deadline. The 12-13-3 Canucks have slowly climbed an upward trend, sitting 4 points out of a playoff spot pending tonight’s results. While a playoff spot is altogether achievable, the team still has a large hill to climb to get back to the promised land.
Another player whose name has wound up in the rumour mill is winger Brock Boeser, the 25-year-old who has had a lacklustre and injury-plagued run with the Canucks since his rookie season. Boeser has provided four goals and 16 total points in 22 games played this season, which equates to a 15-goal pace throughout an 82-game season. In light of his struggles, the Canucks have allowed Boeser’s camp to reach out around the league and facilitate trade.
While it will undoubtedly hurt to see either of these two leave the team, I believe that moving either of them would be the right decision. Horvat is certainly the more valuable of the two, his goal-scoring and faceoff abilities have made him a top centre in the league so far. Should Allvin look to move Horvat, he will certainly be one of the biggest assets moved this season. Selling Horvat now would also make sense as his value could be peaking due to his immaculate form and low salary for the remainder of this season. While it is rare for the Canucks to sell high on star players, a move for Horvat makes sense as it is unlikely that they will be able to fit him into their current cap structure while also meeting his asking price.
Boeser could head out the door regardless of the Horvat situation, but should he go before Horvat, it would free up $6.65 million in cap space to renew Horvat’s contract and give the Canucks some much-needed cap flexibility. A Boeser trade would surely not fetch the Canucks as high of a return as a hypothetical Bo Horvat trade, but it would offer the struggling young winger a change of scenery and enable the Canucks to keep their captain.
Personally, I would assume a trade for at least one of the two is inevitable. The news surrounding Horvat definitely sounds like the Canucks have accepted that they cannot afford to keep their captain, and it is hard for me to envision a scenario where the Canucks find the money to keep Horvat by moving an asset other than Boeser. Barring a miracle, I think it would be within the Canucks' best interest to move Bo Horvat, the team's cap situation paired with Horvat’s stats in a contract year equate to a contract that the team simply cannot afford with the money they have pitted in unmoveable contracts. At the moment, Horvat could fetch the Canucks a hefty package including young players, picks, and prospects, which the Canucks could use to build another core around the rest of their young stars.