Could The Canadiens' Second-Line Centre Be In New York?
Available quality centers are a rare breed, and Montreal Canadiens' GM Kent Hughes has quite the task on his hands this Summer. One of the names that has been floating around in town is the New York Islanders' Bo Horvat.
Lou Lamoriello won't be back on Long Island, and Mathieu Darche now has his office. The new GM will have to take stock to decide what he wants to do, but one thing is clear: the Isles need to get younger. How will they go about it? That remains to be seen, but if Darche is willing to listen, it wouldn't hurt for the Habs to enquire.
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Horvat just turned 30, and he has a large frame, standing at 6-foot-1 and weighing 215 pounds. Furthermore, he knows how to use it, as evidenced by the fact that he threw 100 hits throughout the last season. He's also a left shot, something the Canadiens cruelly lack down the middle, and looked good at the most recent World Championship with eight points in six games.
He's not cheap, though; he's signed for six years at $8.5 M per. That also means Hughes wouldn't have to worry about negotiating a deal with him. He would be earning more than captain Nick Suzuki, but it wouldn't have been Hughes' doing, and while Horvat has never scored more than 68 points in a season, he does bring a lot of physicality, and he would fit in perfectly with Martin St-Louis' system. There would be no need to convince him he needs to move his feet and come at the opponents with speed to get the puck, he already does it.
Having that kind of physical presence on a line, which right now would likely include Patrik Laine and Ivan Demidov, would be a great addition. Horvat could play the role St-Louis has been trying to sell to Juraj Slafkovsky on the first line, and that could give the Canadiens two wonderfully balanced lines and a true top six.
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Would his contract hurt in the last couple of years? Perhaps, but there's no denying he would still be efficient when the Canadiens' window of opportunity opens. There's no denying he'd be a fit in Montreal, but will Horvat even be available under Darche? Time will tell…
Photo Credit: Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
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