Rumor: Canucks captain Bo Horvat linked to potential trade.

There has been a growing sense that something has to give in Vancouver after the team's poor start to the season, a start that has seen them earn a record of 6-9-3 and currently has them on a trajectory to finish well out of the playoff picture.

There has been speculation that head coach Bruce Boudreau could be among the first victims of the team's poor start, especially considering some of the comments made by newly appointed Canucks president Jim Rutherford, but recently National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman indicated that it could potentially be some big names from the Canucks' roster on the move instead.

Friedman cited Rutherford's knack for making big trades and even specifically mentioned Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat as one of the potential players that could be targeted in a trade by rival teams. 

"He's frisky at the best of times," said Friedman of Rutherford on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. "He likes to talk to people in terms of who's available and what's out there, he's a guy who certainly has no fear. I do think he's getting calls on some of his guys, Horvat, and some of the other players around there."

Friedman would go a step further though and specifically mentioned one destination that he believes could make sense for a trade involving Vancouver's captain.

"I heard some rumors about Columbus and that makes a lot of sense, Columbus could really use a center," said Friedman.

There is one potential hurdle here when it comes to a deal between the Canucks and the Columbus Blue Jackets however, and that appears to be Horvat's willingness to sign a long-term contract extension. Friedman indicated his belief that the Blue Jackets would want assurances that Horvat would sign a long-term extension before making a deal of this magnitude.

"The question is do you believe you can sign him," said Friedman. "There's some team's he makes sense as a rental, there's other team's he doesn't make sense as a rental and [the Blue Jackets] are definitely one of them."

"That's kind of the question I'm wondering here, is [Horvat] going to be willing to do that?"

In spite of the Canucks themselves struggling on the ice, Horvat has no doubt made himself an enticing trade target for opposing teams. In 18 games Horvat has racked up 14 goals and 6 assists for a total of 20 points in the 2022-23 regular season so far.