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Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina
I'd love to understand the decision to trade Horvat years ago. That seems like the sliding doors moment for the Canucks. I wonder how things play out if they trade Miller at that time instead of Horvat.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jaydub74
Am I right in recalling Hovat was traded because of tension between himself and another player? Was that Miller as well? If so, what a total disaster that acquisition was for Vancouver, Miller basically grenaded their entire team twice.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sureLoss
One of the issues with Horvat was that he was extremely hot in his last year of his contract.
He scored 31 goals in 49 games.
He was going to demand a big contract the Canucks weren't going to be able to give him in their cap structure.
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All of the above. Horvat and the Canucks had a framework in place that took a blow when Miller's asking number dropped significantly (after the Kadri deal). The plan was still to try and squeeze him in, and then he went on a massive heater and his own asking price went up.
There were rumours that Miller and Horvat did not get along, but that was apparently Pettersson and Miller with Horvat getting sucked into it while trying to mediate (something Hughes apparently refused to deal with ending with him being one of the guys who said Miller had to go).
In the end, losing Horvat was the beginning of the end, not because of how good or bad he was but because of how toxic Miller was (and continues to be in NY).