Trade brewing involving Canucks’ Bo Horvat

There is a sense that captain Bo Horvat may not be with the Vancouver Canucks for much longer. Earlier this week, TSN’s Craig Button shared the feeling by stating that “Horvat was done” and hints given by team President Jim Rutherford when he mentioned how Horvat could eventually find himself on the trade block earlier this month.

On Friday, it is insider Elliotte Friedman who thickens the plot as he reports on the 32 Thoughts podcast that one team could be going after the forward.

“I heard some rumours about Columbus, that makes a lot of sense, Columbus could really use a centre”.

Oh yeah, the Blue Jackets desperately need help up front and would most likely target a player like Horvat to boost their offense.

Horvat is a pending unrestricted free agent at the end of this season and he has been playing his way into a significant raise over his current $5.5 million cap hit. He does not hold a no-trade or no-mouvement clause, so he wouldn’t be able to stop a trade to Columbus.

The Canucks would almost certainly receive multiple high picks and/or top prospects for Horvat. It is also obvious that Vancouver has significant roster needs, specifically on defense and could seek return to to build a younger, stronger backend for the foreseeable future.

Horvat is the best trade chip on hand in Vancouver. He’s posted 14 goals through the Canucks’ first 17 games and is on pace to for more as he has scored more than 40 goals over his last 82 games.

The Canucks will surely get more and more calls on their captain.