NHL Rumors: New Team In The Mix For Canucks' Horvat

With the Vancouver Canucks looking into every option available to trade Bo Horvat, there are some frontrunners and some teams you wouldn't expect. Among the frontrunners are the New York Islanders, Colorado Avalanche, and New York Rangers, but Nick Kypreos said not to count out the Vegas Golden Knights.

Jack Eichel has just been injured for the Golden Knights, and he has been injury prone throughout his career. All trades and moves have been frozen until after Christmas, so the team has time to evaluate how Eichel is doing. The Golden Knights hold first in the division and wouldn't want their playoff hopes or chances once they reach the postseason hurt due to injuries. Acquiring Horvat could ensure success.

Horvat has more goals (22) and points (31) than anyone on Vegas and would give the team a lot more depth up front. But they would have to move out salary to make it work, even with the Canucks retaining salary. Laurent Brossoit is a clear choice to move money out as he is a UFA at the end of the season and eating up cap space in the AHL.

Another choice is to move Alec Martinez who still has one year left on his deal after this season with a decently high cap hit of $5.25 million. The Golden Knights wouldn't like to see him go as he is playing on the top pair and does a lot defensively. But they have a lot of capable defence on the team and in the organization to fill the void. Vegas is in a position to go for it and will be looking to make a move before the deadline.

The Canucks could use a goalie in their organization while Thatcher Demko is injured or a defenceman who specializes in strong defensive play to help reduce goals against.