November 14th, 2025
Jaden Teja
Let’s time-travel a little, shall we?
It’s February 22nd, 2020. The Vancouver Canucks have just beaten the Boston Bruins 9–3 on home ice. After five long years, the rebuild is finally over. You can finally see Jim Benning’s vision, the Canucks are loaded with young talent, and most importantly, they have one of the deepest center cores in the league.
Elias Pettersson, fresh off winning the Calder Trophy, is looking like one of the brightest young stars in the NHL. Newly acquired J.T. Miller, primarily a left winger, fills in at center from time to time. Bo Horvat, Vancouver’s captain, remains one of the most underrated players in the league, and Adam Gaudette, fresh off winning the Hobey Baker Award, adds even more promise. Things are finally starting to look up for Canucks hockey.
Fast forward to September 6th, 2022. You get a notification on your phone: the Canucks have extended J.T. Miller to a seven-year, $56 million contract. You’re a little surprised because Bo Horvat is also a pending free agent, and it feels early for management to commit to one of them before the season even starts.
Skip ahead to January 30th, 2023. Things have hit rock bottom. The Canucks are 20-26-3. They’ve just fired Bruce Boudreau after a very public soap opera, and once again, Vancouver is forced to be a seller at the deadline. The writing’s on the wall for Bo Horvat, who’s in the middle of a career year. Then, the notification hits, he’s been traded to the New York Islanders for Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty, and a 2023 conditional first-round pick.
You glance at your Bo Horvat jersey hanging in the closet and open YouTube to search for “Bo Horvat 2020 playoffs highlights.” You shed a single tear knowing you’ll never hear Al Murdoch announce a Canucks goal scored by “ Booooo Horvat” again. The team ultimately chose J.T. Miller over Bo Horvat. The player who was drafted by the Canucks, endured the rebuild, and wore the “C” with pride. Horvat often spoke about what an honor it was to follow in Henrik Sedin’s footsteps and how badly he wanted to win in Vancouver.
Miller and Horvat are two very different personalities and two very different players. Miller is fiery, a bit of a hothead, while Horvat is easygoing and composed. But like I said, they are two different types of players; the numbers tell a different side of the story. Miller is the more efficient point producer. At the time, he was coming off a 99-point season and averaging more than a point per game, while Horvat was a 52-point player on average.
However, points don’t tell the whole story. Horvat was the more complete player, much more responsible defensively and excellent in the faceoff circle. With Pettersson as your 1C, Horvat was the ideal 2C.
The Canucks eventually traded the conditional first-round pick they received for Horvat to acquire Filip Hronek. The following season, Vancouver won the Pacific Division and made it all the way to the Western Conference Semifinal, falling to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7. J.T. Miller led the team with 103 points and finished 15th in Selke Trophy voting, while Horvat had a solid season in New York with 33 goals and 68 points, though the Islanders were eliminated in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes.
It’s worth noting that the Canucks traded for Elias Lindholm at that year’s deadline, a player very similar to Horvat, effective five-on-five, strong on special teams, and dominant in the faceoff dot. It’s clear the Canucks were trying to fill that void.
Now, looking back, how does the Horvat trade look?
You know that feeling when you dump your ex and a few years later you see them thriving with their new partner while you’re crying yourself to sleep at night, reminiscing and not realizing how good you had it?
That’s pretty much the Canucks with Bo Horvat right now.
Horvat is currently second in the NHL in goals. J.T. Miller is a New York Ranger, and the Canucks have one of the weakest center groups in the league. Horvat was well-liked by his teammates in Vancouver, and during the disastrous 2024–25 campaign with the public Miller–Pettersson feud dominating headlines, fans and perhaps even management began to realize they might have extended the wrong player. Fans posted mock trades on social media to bring Horvat back to Vancouver in the offseason.
All great teams have great second-line centers, and the type of player that defines that role is crucial. The prototypical 2C is effective five-on-five, dependable on special teams, and strong in the faceoff dot.
Oh, right, that describes Bo Horvat perfectly.
After the 2024 season, it looked like the Canucks had made the right move. But right now, it’s looking like an all-time blunder. Finding a true 2C remains a challenge for the Canucks and likely will be for the foreseeable future. Which makes every goal Horvat scores in an Islanders jersey hurt just a little bit more.