Bo Horvat | #53 | C

[Amish Rake Fighter]

Vintage!

"It took Beethoven 4 years to write that symphony..."

[Lancaster]

I think he needs another year in the CHL. No use making him play 12 minutes per game.

With that same notion, might as well send down Kassian too.

[messier's_elbow]

The games I have watched, he doesn't bring enough to the team to warrant rushing him. Back to junior.

Im ok with this also. Give him the games in Utica and the 9 with the Canucks, then send him to the world juniors and for half a season with London.

Edited October 26, 2014 by messier's_elbow

[JamesB]

I think he needs another year in the CHL. No use making him play 12 minutes per game.

If Horvat could play a quality 12 minutes per game at the 4C or 3C position WD and JB would be very happy. The problem is that he has not yet shown he can play at that level.

To be a decent NHL player you have to be at least a very good player at the AHL level. After 3 games he is zeros across the board. People have said he is playing a solid game. But, frankly, his progress is a bit disappointing. I assume he will at least get a look with the Canucks, but I expect him to be back in Junior this year. .

[Dragonfruits]

if he can come in and win faceoffs that will be reason enough to keep he could have zeros across the board all year but if he can come in and be a faceoff specialist he should stay considering our current situation

[higgyfan]

I still think he goes back to London, he needs more maturity and development. I don't think he'll see anywhere near 9 NHL games this year either. This year is just a year too early.

I'd like to see him complete his 3 games with Utica and the 9 with Van before a decision is made. If he isn't looking ready after that, they ya, he should go back to London.

[DeNiro]

Lol at people making decisions about his future after 3 games back from injury.

Patience people. Wait to see where he's at after he rejoins the Canucks, then you can start speculating where he'll go.

[73 Percent]

Lol at people making decisions about his future after 3 games back from injury.

Patience people. Wait to see where he's at after he rejoins the Canucks, then you can start speculating where he'll go.

i didn't realize you determined when we are allowed and not allowed to speculate.

[DeNiro]

i didn't realize you determined when we are allowed and not allowed to speculate.

You can speculate all you want, but it's kind of pointless.

Until he gets up to speed, we won't know where he's at.

Using a stat line as a way of judging where he's at doesn't mean much. That's why they pay scouts to go to the games and watch him.

[73 Percent]

You can speculate all you want, but it's kind of pointless.

Until he gets up to speed, we won't know where he's at.

Using a stat line as a way of judging where he's at doesn't mean much. That's why they pay scouts to go to the games and watch him.

well i think green has watched a couple of his games this season. Apparently that was enough to pull him out of the dot. Isn't that supposed to be his forte?

Not saying bo is a bad player. Not saying he won't be a great player. Im saying it appears that he isnt ready for pro hockey just yet. Obviously i have no say in what happens so we'll wait and see. I dont see him playing more than 9 games with the canucks this season.

[Standing_Tall#37]

You can speculate all you want, but it's kind of pointless.

Until he gets up to speed, we won't know where he's at.

Using a stat line as a way of judging where he's at doesn't mean much. That's why they pay scouts to go to the games and watch him.

Bingo! I think people here are to hard on 18 & 19 year olds. At 20 I believe the criticism is becoming fair and if they have yet to experience the nhl at 21 or 22, they probably are gonna bust. But game changers are usually in the nhl by 20 and starting to make an impact at 23 or 24. People forget that not every 1st rd pick is a Crosby, Tavares, Kane, stamkos or mackinnon.

[FlyLow_]

I think it's pretty obvious the rule for AHL eligibility needs to be changed. Horvat going back to junior, getting way too much ice and developing bad habits to conserve energy again does nothing for his development. He belongs in the AHL, and there's many many players that end up going back to junior when they have nothing to gain. It's something that needs to be revisited.

That said, Philly started couturier on their 4th line and there may not be a better comparison to Bo in the league so...

[NEON.KNEE]

I think it's pretty obvious the rule for AHL eligibility needs to be changed. Horvat going back to junior, getting way too much ice and developing bad habits to conserve energy again does nothing for his development. He belongs in the AHL, and there's many many players that end up going back to junior when they have nothing to gain. It's something that needs to be revisited.

That said, Philly started couturier on their 4th line and there may not be a better comparison to Bo in the league so...

The rules are in place so that the CHL dosn't lose all of its talent to the AHL.

A nice compromise would be to allow all NHL teams 1 player that can be exempt from CHL and head to AHL provided they sign with the big club and could possibly eat up a year of his ELC so teams would have to be sure that they would want to commit to that certain player.

[Outsiders]

Dorsett-Horvat-Hansen would be a excellent 4th line Bye Bye -6 Matthais. Also Bo would be used for PK and Key face-offs

[UticaHockey]

The rules are in place so that the CHL dosn't lose all of its talent to the AHL.

A nice compromise would be to allow all NHL teams 1 player that can be exempt from CHL and head to AHL provided they sign with the big club and could possibly eat up a year of his ELC so teams would have to be sure that they would want to commit to that certain player.

Perfect idea.

[tyhee]

isn't NHL ice time twice as valuable as Junior?

Not normally, no. If someone isn't ready it can be damaging for a career.

Granted, it's a very small sample size and he did have a layoff, but so far in Utica he's not scoring and from the little information available there's no reason to believe he's dominating on faceoffs. He may still show he belongs after his conditioning stint, but it's hard to understand him being pushed to the NHL unless and until he shows he belongs.

Really, I don't understand the wish to rush the kids before they're ready.

A quick sample-look at the 2010-2011 Canucks. Most would probably agree that was a good team (win the President's Cup by 10 points over the runner-up, made it to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.) That team had only two players who played a sizeable number of games in the NHL in their 19 year old seasons, neither of which was an NHL regular at 19. They were:

Ryan Kesler-28 games in Vancouver (5 points, -2); 33 games in AHL and 6 games at the WJC.

Manny Malhotra-27 games with NYR, 0 points, -6.

The rest of the players on that team spent their 19 YO seasons developing in the minors, junior or Europe.

Players take time to develop. One must be patient.

Yes, there are certainly exceptions. TL was one-drafted 2nd overall from Medicine Hat as a very mature player with scouting reports suggesting he was captain material who had in his draft year at 17 put up 110 pts in 67 games in his 4th season in Major Junior, and who stood 6'4.

By contrast, in his draft year Horvat, who stood 6'0 or so, put up 61 pts in 67 games (same number of games, 49 fewer points)-in his second year in Major Junior. In his draft + 1 year, his third in major junior, he scored 74 pts in 54 g-for a ppg ave of 1.37 compared with Linden at 17 at 1.64 ppg.

Will Horvat be ready by the end of his conditioning stint and tryout? I don't know-we'll have to see how he does. It simply is losing hockey, though, for a franchise to rush its young players to the NHL before they show they are ready.

That is quite aside from the question of whether to burn a year of the ELC and make players eligible for free agency earlier.

[Guest Dasein]

Our bottom 6 at the center position is Richardson, Vey and Matthias. There is no dropoff if Horvat takes one one of those spots. Richardson is the most steady of those 3 and is good on faceoffs. Vey and Matthias are below average in the faceoff circle and both can play wing. I really don't see the drawback of playing Horvat, other than the reasoning that he's 19 years old and his confidence may be hurt by making mistakes in the NHL. He doesn't strike me as that sort of player or person. He's been a leader his entire career and plays a 200 foot game. We're a fringe playoff team as it is and the time has come to put a pure rookie into the lineup. Our last 19 year old rookie was Trevor Linden and we all know how that decision paid off.

I think that's incorrect - we've had someone else since Linden who was 19 (Peter Nedved). Linden might have been the last 18 year old rookie since he played in the NHL right after he was drafted (so did Nedved but he was a late birthday).

I always wonder what could have been if Trevor was sent back for a year - look at how Quebec (Colorado) sent Joe Sakic back to junior for a year and see how his NHL career panned out. I think Trevor might have been rushed and could have benefited from an extra year in the WHL too - he could have been better offensively. For a 2nd overall, he never reached those superstar heights with his production. Could have been a different story if Linden had more finesse and offensive talent while playing with Bure.

Anyway, we'll never know.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Dasein

[Salmonberries]

if he can come in and win faceoffs that will be reason enough to keep he could have zeros across the board all year but if he can come in and be a faceoff specialist he should stay considering our current situation

That's the Manny Malhotra formula. I'd rather see him have a big offensive year in the OHL than waste the year doing what we're doing with him at this point. And I'm a big Bo booster; it's just that I personally don't like handing roster spots to self-entitled teenagers on the basis of draft position no matter who we're talking about. It's a men's league.

[Canorth]

That's the Manny Malhotra formula. I'd rather see him have a big offensive year in the OHL than waste the year doing what we're doing with him at this point. And I'm a big Bo booster; it's just that I personally don't like handing roster spots to self-entitled teenagers on the basis of draft position no matter who we're talking about. It's a men's league.

Bo Horvat self-entitled?

[Canucks1219]

That's the Manny Malhotra formula. I'd rather see him have a big offensive year in the OHL than waste the year doing what we're doing with him at this point. And I'm a big Bo booster; it's just that I personally don't like handing roster spots to self-entitled teenagers on the basis of draft position no matter who we're talking about. It's a men's league.

I get your message as a whole, but it's not "handing a roster spot" if he is actually better than someone.