Bo Horvat

Position: C

Age: 27

Height/Weight: 6’0″, 215 pounds

Statistics: 30 goals, 19 assists, 49 points (44 games played)

Player Overview

During Elliotte Friedman’s latest 32 Thoughts podcast, he explained that trade talks around Vancouver Canucks’ center Bo Horvat have intensified. One of those teams that are ‘around it’ in terms of a potential pursuit of Horvat is the New Jersey Devils.

Horvat, who was selected with the ninth-overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft (the pick Vancouver got from New Jersey in the Cory Schneider trade), has been with the team for nine seasons. Back in October of 2019, Horvat was named captain of the Canucks. He was also selected to the All-Star game just a couple weeks ago.

The six-foot, 215-pound center is having by far his most productive season in terms of points. For the first time in his career, he is a point-per-game player with 49 through 44 games. He is on pace for a staggering 56 goals (largely inflated by a likely unsustainable, career-high 22.4 percent shooting percentage) and 91 points. Each would shatter previous career highs.

Throughout his career, prior to this season, he averaged about 52 points per an 82-game season. In total, he has hit the 20-goal plateau six times. He’s also tallied 30-or-more goals in each of the past two seasons.

Historically, Horvat has profiled as an offensive-first center who is not a great defender. In five of his nine career seasons, he has posted a negative defensive goals above replacement (GAR) rating. In terms of expected GAR, his expected defensive rating has been negative in all but one of his nine season.

He has also struggled on the penalty kill. Though, Horvat has always been very strong in the faceoff dot, as evident by his career 53.8 percent success rate.

Offensively is where the center excels. Horvat has always had extremely strong offensive impacts, though, has never really exploded on the stat-sheet like he has this year. Over the past three seasons, Horvat profiles as one of the better offensive centers in the NHL. As his 95th-percentile ranking in on-ice offensive metrics indicates, per Evolving Hockey.

Contract

Horvat is in the final year of a six-year contract extension that was worth $5.5-million per season. So, there is risk in acquiring him, as whoever does, may want to have an extension lined up with the Canadian-born center before any trade occurs. It would also be wise of Vancouver to allow Horvat to discuss terms with other teams, maximizing his trade value.

With Horvat being due for a new contract, he could not have picked a better time to have a career year. Right now, Dom Luszczyszyn of the Athletic projects Horvat’s market value to be around $8.8 million. A rough projection for the 27-year-old would be an eight-year deal (if a sign and trade) worth at least $8.25-million per season, if not more.

Potential Fit With The Devils

There is no doubt that Horvat is an elite-offensive player that plays the most important position in the game. However, there are some concerns.

Given his career-year is coming in a contract-season, his value is as high as it may ever be. For this reason, he is going to get a massive payday that’s probably not a strong representative of his full career’s body of work. And, if the Devils were to be the team to give him it, it would likely be their second player with a contract greater than $8-million per season. With that being said, it must be remembered that Jesper Bratt is due for a massive extension this off-season as well.

Couple this potential large extension with what it will take to bring Horvat in from the Canucks, he is going to be a massive cost. Is it worth it for a player that can be a liability in his own end at points? Or for a player that has not played more than 70 games since the 2018-19 season? Horvat has also only hit the 60-point mark once in his six-year career.

Despite all that, having a forward core of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Ondrej Palat, and Bo Horvat is very enticing. Horvat is an elite center that would immediately benefit from a system that the Devils play. This new system would also likely increasing the probability that Horvat’s offensive production explosion continues. Though, is that worth the large cost it is going to take to potentially bring him to Newark?

Would A Deal Make Sense?

The short answer: probably not. The market for Horvat is reportedly substantial and the asking price is unsurprisingly just as large. Which is not shocking in the slightest given he plays center, is having a career year, and is still very young. With all that being said, general manager Tom Fitzgerald would likely benefit in looking elsewhere to upgrade his squad at the deadline.