NHL Rumors: 4 Cup Competitors With Interest In Canucks' Horvat

After the news of Bo Horvat rejecting the final offer from the Vancouver Canucks, he is bound to be traded this season and a lot of teams are lining up to bring him in. The 27-year-old appears to be hitting his prime as he has scored 21 goals and 30 points this season in a contract year.

Though teams who aren't in the playoff race would surely have interest in Horvat in a sign-and-trade, it may be more likely that the Canucks' captain is traded as a rental to a contender. The Fourth Period lists four good teams with needs Horvat can fill as options - Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars, New York Rangers.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche have been banged up all year, whether it be one key forward or multiple. The team has underperformed because of it. Regardless if Colorado is fully healthy or not, they need a second line centre to complete a great top-six.

Horvat is cheap enough cap-wise as a rental to help the team go back-to-back and it doesn't force Alex Newhook, Evan Rodrigues, or J.T. Compher into a role that's too much for any of them to handle. The Avalanche are surely one of the top teams in on Horvat.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs have bided their time and haven't made any significant moves after Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly, and T.J. Brodie all got injured. With Muzzin likely out for the season and his cap space freed up, that will be spent on a forward. Initially they may have thought about using it to upgrade their defence, but Kyle Dubas got a steal in Conon Timmins from the Arizona Coyotes for cheap and is proving he can be an NHL defenceman.

That cap space they have can be used on adding an impactful forward and give the Maple Leafs an even better chance at making it out of the first round. With Horvat, they would have three excellent centers who would be unmatched by any team they're up against.

Dallas Stars

Seeing as the Stars are for real this season, they can definitely upgrade their forward group. The team has a couple of players on entry-level deals (Ty Dellandrea and Wyatt Johnston) playing in the middle-six. Even though they have done well for their age, the Stars are going to want a deeper forward group. Having those players play a little lower with a little less responsibility could be beneficial this season. With the addition of Horvat, Dallas could move Tyler Seguin over to the wing and the second line would then be very good and produce close to what the top line is doing.

New York Rangers

The Rangers have taken a step back from last season but have won four in a row and are still in a playoff spot. They should be a playoff team with the talent they have on the roster, but need help up front. The young forwards have still not turned out the way they had hoped top picks should by now. It may be time to use at least one of them to get the right pieces to win.

The rangers do more than enough line shuffling to try and get their young forwards going, but Horvat could come in and stabilize the middle-six a bit. He would slot in on the second line, but it would allow either Vincent Trocheck or Filip Chytil to shift over to the wing. The Rangers are in their window to win right now and can't be using it as development for their top picks.