Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat has spent his entire NHL career with the franchise that drafted him, but as a pending UFA, his time in Vancouver could be coming to an end. Last month, we covered how Horvat had expressed a a desire to remain in Vancouver. Today that picture got a bit more cloudy. Speaking on CHEK’s Donnie and Dhali podcast, Horvat’s agent, Pat Morris, said that he believes “Bo is a number-one center,” a comment made in reaction to the use of Sean Couturier’s $7.75MM AAV deal as a comparable for the contract he’s seeking for Horvat. With the Canucks’ currently tight cap situation, it’s an open question as to whether Vancouver will be able to afford the sort of contract Horvat is seeking.
Morris’ belief that Horvat is a number-one center is telling as to how Horvat’s representation will approach contract negotiations going into their client’s potential unrestricted free agency this summer. The going rate for top-six centers in the NHL in their UFA years is around $8MM AAV, if not more, based on recent deals. We’ve seen centers such as Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Ryan Johansen, and Mathew Barzal all hit or surpass that number on their own long-term deals. Horvat scored 31 goals and 52 points last season and brings the sort of defensive value and leadership intangibles teams covet, so it’s not unreasonable that a deal in that wide $7MM-$9MM range is Horvat’s target. For the Canucks, though, it’s fair to wonder whether they’ll be able to afford that sort of contract. With the recent J.T. Miller extension and other players making significant dollars already on their books, it’s definitely possible that the Canucks simply won’t be able to offer Horvat the sort of deal he could receive from another club.
Now, for some other notes regarding forwards from across the NHL:
- Horvat isn’t the only top-six center and team captain to be a pending unrestricted free agent. Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin is also set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and he too is reportedly seeking a major extension. Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports on TSN’s Insider Trading program that “the plan is” for Larkin’s representatives to introduce Barzal’s recent $9.15MM AAV deal as a contract comparable for Larkin’s next deal. Larkin scored 69 points in 71 games last season, and with another strong year he could fully cement himself as deserving of such a lucrative extension.
- The Montreal Canadiens were without forward Jonathan Drouin for last night’s season-opening game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but they may not be without him for much longer. On the Insider Trading program, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Drouin is at “90%” health and getting ready to return to action in the near future. The Canadiens are currently running Cole Caufield, Sean Monahan, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Rem Pitlick as their four left wingers, meaning it’s not immediately clear where Drouin fits into their lineup. But regardless of where he ultimately finds himself on the ice, getting him back to full health is undoubtedly good news for Montreal.
Drouin needs to come back play good so the habs can retain half and trade him. I mean what team doesnt want a 50-60 point ayer for 2.75 at the deadline. I wasnt a big fan of the trade at the time but man o man was it ever worse then i thought. It has to be a top 3 worst trade of this century. He hasnt been able to stay on the ice but hes been a 0.5 point a game player even thru that so there is value if he is healthy and 2.75
If your favorite team had the need & the cap space…. who’d you rather….. Horvat @$7.8m per year for 5 years or Larkin @$8.5m per for 5 years
I rate Larkin as the better player!
Larkin is a slightly better player than Horvat, Larkin isn’t signing for only 5 years on the open market Larkin wants either 7 x $10,000,000 or 7 x $10,500,000. There’s 0 chance of Larkin taking anything less then the Mathew Barzal deal.