Earlier this week, Canucks general manager Jim Benning expressed hope that a contract with restricted free agent Bo Horvat will get done before the start of training camp.
Horvat is the lone Canuck player left to get under contract for the upcoming season, and Vancouver has about $5.375 million remaining in cap space after the signing of free agent forward Thomas Vanek.
According to Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, the two sides continue to get closer to a new, long-term deal.
Over the last day or so, there have been a few suggestions about what Horvat’s next contract could look like. The common theme is that it’s believed the 22-year-old center will ink a long-term contract.
My expectation is Horvat's new deal is likely to have a term north of 5 years (6 or 7?) and an AAV north of $5M (but not $6M).
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) September 6, 2017
Polled a few NHL agents about Bo Horvat, most feel Horvat is worth 5.6 to 5.8 million on a 6 year deal. #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) September 6, 2017
Benning told Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver that the two sides made progress last week, but he didn’t get into specific details about the negotiations.
“We’re still working on that,” said Benning. “It’s going well. We’ve said all along our policy is not to bring it into the media -- where our negotiations are at. But I think it’s going well and hopefully we can get it done here in the next week.”