Despite leading the Vancouver Canucks in scoring last season, centre Bo Horvat didn’t earn a high rating in NHL 18 — coming in at an 84. Was that too high, too low or just right?
Vancouver Canucks centre Bo Horvat has come as advertised thus far after being selected ninth overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Horvat led the team in scoring last season with 20 goals and 52 points.
The pressure was on Horvat to succeed after the Canucks traded away franchise goalie Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils for the ninth pick. Horvat has seen his scoring totals go up every year, and the 22-year-old is just entering his prime.
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Until/unless 2017 fifth overall pick Elias Pettersson reaches his full potential in the NHL, Horvat will be the Canucks No. 1 centre.
He, Brock Boeser and Sven Baertschi showed plenty of flashes together on the top line near the end of 2016-17.
New head coach Travis Green will surely give the trio many responsibilities in what’s to be a “rebuilding” year.
And though Horvat led the team in scoring and was named to his first All-Star game in 2017, the folks at NHL 18 didn’t quite give him the highest of ratings:
What do you think Canuck fans? #NHL18Ratings @EASPORTSNHL pic.twitter.com/66IHiKjbD2
— Bo Horvat (@BoHorvat) August 26, 2017
For what it’s worth, Boeser had a little fun with his not-so-terrific rating from the crew at EA Sports:
https://twitter.com/BBoeser16/status/901170715449323521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thescore.com%2Fnews%2F1358660
Obviously, Boeser only played nine games last season — so a high rating isn’t warranted. But is 84 fair for Horvat? I would say so.
I remember the days from NHL 2004 and NHL 2005, where guys like Ilya Kovalchuk, Martin Brodeur Joe Sakic, and Nicklas Lidstrom were ranked 98 or 99. Throughout the past decade or so, EA Sports has been a bit more realistic with player ratings.
EA Sports also unveiled their top-10 defenceman ratings thus far. Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson are at the cream of the crop, both coming in at ratings of 91. It just puts things in perspective. Horvat isn’t quite a superstar. Doughty and Karlsson are two future Hall of Famers, and they’re only seven points up on Horvat.
So unless you’re a bonafide star and among the NHL’s elite players, you’re going to have a tough time getting a rating in the high 80s or low-to-mid 90s. Horvat’s rating of 84 is justified, but hey, he can obviously make it much better if he continues to improve his yearly totals.
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What do you think of Bo Horvat’s NHL 18 rating, Canucks fans? Let us know in the comments section below.