The Vancouver Canucks received a massive punch in the stomach when it was announced that Bo Horvat will be out of the starting lineup for ‘weeks’ following an injury to his right leg. Horvat has an MRI on Wednesday. The team has confirmed a fractured foot.
Horvat, 22, has 10 goals and 10 assists in 28 games played this season.
How will Travis Green stay the course while his number one center is on the IR?
The Canucks enter tonight’s game action in seventh place in the Western Conference. However, the Sharks, Ducks, Flames and Wild are breathing down The necks of the Canucks. Losing horvat for up to two months with an ankle/leg injury could cause a tailspin that could lead to the Canucks falling out of playoff contention.
Reinhart may be expendable to the Sabres now that center Evan Rodrigues is back in the lineup after suffering a long term injury during training camp.
The Canucks are now painfully thin at center ice without centers Horvat and Brandon Sutter lost to injuries.
It’s likely that Canucks GM Jim Benning will have to trade a defenseman in exchange for a veteran center. Benning need only look to one of his former employers, the Buffalo Sabres, for a solution to his center ice crisis.
The last place Sabres have center depth on their current roster. No, Jack Eichel and Ryan O’Reilly are not available. However, Samson Reinhart and Zemgus Girgensons may be avaialble.
If the price is right.
Reinhart, the second overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, has been moved to the wing in Buffalo. He is a centerman first and foremost. He has 5 goals and 5 assists this season. Reinhart is a North Vancouver kid who cut his teeth with the Kootenay Ice.
In 195 career games with the Sabres, Reinhart has accumulated 45 goals and 55 assists for 100 points.
Reinhart , 22, may be expendable at center for Phil Housley due to the return from injury of speedy 200-foot center Evan Rodrigues. It appears that a Housley and Botterill see Reinhart more as a winger than a center in Buffalo. Reinhart will play wherever his coach tells him to play, however, he sees himself as an NHL center.
Girgensons was the 14th overall pick at the 2012 NHL Draft. The Latvian Locomotive will turn 24 on January 5. Girgensons has already accumulated five years on NHL service.
In 301 career games in Buffalo, Girgensons has scored 38 goals and 51 assists for 89 points.
What would it take for Benning to make a deal to acquire pending restricted free agent Reinhart?
Sabres GM Jason Botterill would like be asking for puck transporter Chris Tanev and a first round draft choice.
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