Source: Bruins Would Need To Include Carlo Or DeBrusk For Horvat

If the Boston Bruins are going to be serious contenders in the NHL trade sweepstakes for Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat, they will have to include a current roster player in addition to a top prospect and a 2023 first round pick.

Last Saturday, Sportsnet Insider Jeff Marek reported that Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin wants ‘three players including a top prospect’ in any trade for Horvat, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. So who could those players be on the Boston Bruins roster?

According to a well-placed NHL source, the Canucks have always liked both Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo and winger Jake DeBrusk, and one of those players would likely need to be included in any trade package Bruins general manager Don Sweeney offers to Allvin.

“Boston would have to part with DeBrusk or Carlo I’d think,” the source opined to Boston Hockey Now earlier this week.

Numerous texts and calls to other NHL sources seemed to be in agreement but said that DeBrusk and Carlo were two names they have not heard bantered about in NHL trade chatter. One even claimed that his team had inquired about DeBrusk in the preseason and was told that the 26-year-old winger was not available. If that’s true then one would have to think DeBrusk is even more untouchable given the career season he’s been having with 16 goals and 14 assists in 36 games this season.

As for Carlo, he is an integral part of the top 4 pairings of the Bruins’ blue line, and with the team off to the best start in NHL history, Sweeney probably doesn’t want to tamper with his defense unless he had a player of equal caliber coming back. Carlo has one goal and seven assists in 43 games this season and has successfully been paired with either Hampus Lindholm or Matt Grzelcyk by new head coach Jim Montgomery.

If Sweeney is trading a key roster player, then he’s going to want to know that he can extend Bo Horvat past this season. As of now, Allvin is not allowing interested NHL trade suitors for Horvat to discuss an extension with his Horvat’s agent Patrick Morris. Horvat is in the final season of a six-year contract he signed as a restricted free agent in 2017 and that carries a $5.5 million AAV. After a career-high 31 goals last season, the 6-foot, 215-pound, 27-year-old pivot has 31 goals and 50 points in 48 games this season.

The NHL trade deadline is five weeks from Friday so we should find out soon just how serious Sweeney and the Bruins are about their interest in Horvat and other players on the NHL trade market.