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Should Bo Horvat be on the New York Rangers’ wish-list?

By Andrew Steele-Davis

DENVER, COLORADO - MARCH 23: Bo Horvat #53 of the Vancouver Canucks looks on during a game against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on March 23, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO - MARCH 23: Bo Horvat #53 of the Vancouver Canucks looks on during a game against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on March 23, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
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DENVER, COLORADO – MARCH 23: Bo Horvat #53 of the Vancouver Canucks looks on during a game against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on March 23, 2022, in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO – MARCH 23: Bo Horvat #53 of the Vancouver Canucks looks on during a game against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on March 23, 2022, in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

It is no secret that the New York Rangers lack depth at center, one of the most important positions in modern-day hockey. They could right that particular wrong by strongly considering a move for Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat.

Training Camp is officially next week which means that a long offseason is finally nearly over. However, while we’re closing in on the return of actual NHL hockey, there’s still time to have some fun and come up with potential trade scenarios.

One such scenario is a trade for Horvat. The Canucks recently signed former Ranger J.T. Miller to a seven-year, $56 million contract extension. It leaves Vancouver with no cap space remaining and the franchise has a lot of money tied up in a lot of players moving forward. Plus, they will also have the no small task of attempting to sign young stars Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Vasily Podkolzin to new deals over the next couple of years.

It has been reported that discussions are ongoing with Horvat’s camp over an extension, but the cap experts in the building are going to have to get incredibly smart for the Canucks in order to make that work. After all, Horvat has one year remaining on his current deal with an Average Annual Value of $5,500,000. It is more than likely that the center will want a raise on the six-year, $33 million contract he signed back in 2017.

With the Canucks having very little flexibility with the cap now and moving forward, it does seem feasible that Horvat could be moved if the right offer were to be presented to Vancouver General Manager Patrik Allvin. Even Horvat himself raised some questions over his own future by saying on Monday that he’s a “Vancouver Canuck right now.” That is hardly a ringing endorsement.

So, with that being said, it is hard to think that the Canucks wouldn’t pull the trigger on trading their Captain and ridding themselves of a salary cap headache if they got an attractive package back in return. With a plethora of prospects and plenty of draft capital, the New York Rangers could make that trade and it would make a lot of sense.

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