Coming off the PJHL weekend schedule that saw the Richmond Sockeyes play a doubleheader on the Sunshine Coast, many in the hockey world or rather Canuck world are shocked to hear about the news of the Bo Horvat trade.
This isn’t the first time that the Canucks have been involved in a trade with the Islanders and reflecting back to February 6th, 1988 Trevor Linden was moved out in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabeand and a third-round that saw them select Jarkko Ruutu.
The trade sends Horvat to the Islanders in exchange for the Islanders first-round selection as well as Anthony Beauvillier (25) and 20 year-old Aatu Räty with the Canucks retaining 25% of Horvat’s cap hit.
The interesting part to know is that Bo played in his rookie season in 2014-15 at the age of 19 and at season’s end would be an unrestricted free agent who many thought would not be signed to a new contract with the terms he was wanting.
I am hearing that the Islanders focused on Horvat for his goal scoring ability due to their ratings in the top ten in goals against, while being in the bottom ten having a 15.5 PP which ranks 31st in the NHL.
Goal productivity this season hasn’t been an issue for Horvat as he has reached his personal career high of 31 goals and at this pace could finish with 52.
As of press time he is tied in ninth with 11 PP goals.
It’s interesting that the prize piece to the trade is the first round pick that has a condition that has the pick protected and if in the top 12 in the 2023 Draft, but if the pick ends up being in 2024 it will be an unprotected selection.
If the Islanders don’t go far in the playoffs the Canucks will get a selection ranging between 13th to 16th in the 2023 draft of a first-round pick in 2024.
The move will be an improvement to the current roster for the Islanders and if they somehow make the playoffs his presence will be a welcome addition.
This season Beauvillier (5’11”) has played in 49 games having a record of 9-11-20 in addition to his 10 PIM’s starting with the Islanders in 2016-17 playing 457 regular season games.
Raty (20) adds size to the roster (6’2” 190 lbs) splitting his time in both the NHL and the AHL Bridgeport Islanders having a record of 2-0-2 in 12 NHL games and was selected in the second round 52nd overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
The Canucks are heading in the direction that some feel lacks leadership with the next leader yet to take the team on their shoulders and lead them in the direction that has been lacking for a while.
The recent retirement of both Henrik and Daniel leaves many questioning if Elias Pettersson and Quin Hughes are the right two or if more is required to put them on the pedestal to return to the good books of their fan base.
Horvat carried the Canucks in recent years while some thought the one to step up was be Brock Boeser would be the one to lead the charge, while in reality it was Bo alone.
The local coffee shop earlier in the day was full of quick fixes to solve the Canucks problems with some questioning who the next Canuck Captain will be?
Others feel and for what it’s worth they should finish the season having only Alternative Captains and sort this out at the start of next season, which isn’t that far off.
Simply put as I was told earlier in the day – Bo never failed the Canucks, they failed him!!
Let’s not forget that Horvat’s lost stick was but eventually found and returned to Marshall and Linden Ervin who got their unique piece of memorabilia back and delivered to their house.
The boy’s now own more than just owning a stick – it’s Bo’s
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