Canucks thank you for calling and then happily hang up. They’re trying to win now and trading their captain and not getting a guy to play with Hughes does not do that

Thank you for your response

Horvat is a really good player in his own right too. He’s worth way more than this.

Yeah. The only way I can see the Canucks trading Horvat to Carolina would be for Pesce. And there is no possible way Carolina would do that

You're gonna have to make Morrow available for the Canucks to even consider moving Horvat

Thank you for your response

Acquire Horvat just to play him at 3LW? At least put him at 2C where he belongs

That’s the downfall of having an extremely deep team unfortunately

Horvat is better than kotkaniemi though? Yeah the hurricanes are deep but Horvat is easily a top 6 player on them still

I’m not sure why we all still talk about top 6 any longer. A line of Horvat-Staal-Fast would play as many mins as any line…if you’d like, just flip flop lines “2” and “3” in your head. Happy?

Wait, the Canucks are trying to win now? That’s funny since I don’t remember seeing them in a playoff spot much over the last several years. I mean, they haven’t been able to make the playoffs in 2 of the weakest divisions between the Pacific and North with a high quality roster that only lacks defensive capabilities.

Poking the bear aside, The only way I see the Canes making a move for Horvat would be if Staal is guaranteed not to return next year, and that Drury isn’t completely ready by that time to take over for Staal. The likelihood that the scenario I just brought up comes true, I would probably put as less than a 1% chance. If the Canes are going to make a move at the deadline, the first one would be the reacquisition of Patches, but if there is another, it’s likely to shore up 3LD. Canes already have 2 quality options they can go to if KK doesn’t work out at 2C, so making the move for Horvat wouldn’t make sense, unless the Canes chase him in UFA assuming the scenario above comes true.

As for the trade, Vancouver would shoot that offer down in a heartbeat. Another quality piece would need to be added at the very least.

Under Boudreau they were on a 109 point pace. This year they also get to work on systems before the season and have added Kuzmenko who could be up to a 50-60 point guy. They were destroyed by their PK and since then have added Mikheyev and Lazar. I think they could be a sneaky good team this year

My comment on the defensive capabilities was mainly geared towards the dcore, and that they are much more reliant on Demko for the overall success of the team. Mind you, while the forward core has gotten better defensively with additions like Mikeyhev (contract will likely bite them) and Lazar as you mentioned, I would still put them in the bottom third of the league in defensive capabilities. If the Canucks can get 1 or 2 guys at RHD that can stop the Canucks from getting walked as easily and reduce the workload on Demko, they will be a much scarier team that can actually be taken as a legitimate threat.

The only problem with that is teams will be asking an exorbitant price for those players, especially since RHD is the money position at the moment. Vancouver will either have to start drafting their own or accept the price that is asked.

Just a bit of curiosity to do with Horvat, with the recent extension given to Miller, where does that leave Horvat. Add in the extensions they need to give to Petey, Kuzmenko, and Podkolzin, among others, I wouldn’t be surprised if Vancouver deals Horvat at the deadline if they are on the outside looking in. Genuinely curious, but if they are on the outside of a playoff spot come the trade deadline, what do you think will happen with Horvat, cause I can’t see Vancouver just letting him walk for nothing.

My #1 guess is he’s extended before the season (~6.5x8) but if he isn’t, and Vancouvers not in a playoff spot, I think they trade him. They might even trade Miller worst case scenario

That Miller contract will be one of the league’s worst contracts very soon. How much do you think the Canucks would be willing to pay in order to dump him? Particularly since cap space is an extremely valuable commodity, and the amount of teams that would even have be able to take him on is limited to, Arizona and Chicago, at least for the next couple of seasons. I would imagine at minimum it would take something like 2 firsts to get the conversation started, just because of the total amount of money and term. I just don’t know if they will be able to resign Horvat now that they signed Miller.

There’s no scenario where it costs them to dump Miller. That contract will be fine for 4-5 years and will only hurt for the last two where the cap has likely raised

I’m only giving it 2-3 years before it’s one of the worst. I’m still of the opinion that he overperformed by a large margin last year, and we can disagree on that as much as possible, and who knows, I might be wrong, but until that happens, I will remain with no faith in that contact. But I digress, I enjoy being proven wrong, since it means I can still learn more.