The Canucks have not met with Bo Horvat’s agent Pat Morris for the purpose of talking about a contract for their captain, according to Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali — The Team. Here’s what Dhaliwal had to say on Monday morning.
“Pat Morris, the agent for Bo Horvat was in town last week,” said Dhaliwal. “Did he meet with the Canucks about Bo? The answer last week was no. The answer today is no. There was a conversation between the two sides before the Blackhawks game, but that was not a scheduled meeting and Bo was not discussed. So the reporting last week stands. Pat Morris did not meet with the Canucks about Bo Horvat. There was never a scheduled meeting between the two sides last week. The two sides have not talked contract in two months. So the Vancouver Canucks met with Dan Milstein, Kuzmenko’s agent in Florida for six hours. They did not do the same with Pat Morris. There was no meeting about Bo. It’s time to move on.”
The report from Dhaliwal comes days after Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin told Dan Riccio and Satiar Shah on Canucks Central that he met with Morris before the game against Chicago on Tuesday last week. Allvin also said he believes the Canucks have a “good offer on the table” for Horvat.
“Bo Horvat has been a Canuck for a long time. He’s been a captain here,” said the Canucks GM. “He put himself in a position here to be a UFA this summer, which means he can dictate where he wants to play, obviously the contract he wants to sign. I believe from our side, we believe we put a good offer on the table for Bo.”
After signing Andrei Kuzmenko last week, Allvin denied that the signing would affect his club’s ability to get a deal done with Horvat. It appears as though that ship has sailed, however. The Canucks have until March 3rd to trade their captain, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Horvat, 27, was drafted by the Canucks in 2013 when the team traded goaltender Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for the ninth overall pick. Horvat has cemented himself as a regular 20-goal scorer throughout his career, but in the past year and a half, Horvat has been scoring at well beyond a 40 goal rate. Through just 49 games this season, Horvat has already tied his career-high goal tally of 31, which he set last season over the course of 70 games.
Recently, we broke down Horvat’s evolution into one of the game’s best goal scorers, and you can read that article in full by clicking here.
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