Horvat, most underrated forward?

[CrimsonYann]

Seems to me that Bo Horvat is not getting enough love. He had 4 points last night in Boston (on my bench but fortunately started Shore and his 2 goals). When I acquired him in the off-season for Schenn, the other owner bragged about his perceived steal. Despite a decent start, Dobber downgraded him from 71st to 89th in his Dynasty Rankings. ESPN's Sean Allen had him ranked 208th at the start of the season. I know they're ranking points-only, while Horvat is better in multi-cat leagues like mine (good faceoff guy for one), but come on!!

Am I the only who thinks he might be the most underrated forward?

[hockeyrobot]

He's pretty damn underrated. I traded him last year for picks because I couldn't keep him. Then that guy didn't keep him either so I scooped him back up WAY later than expected. This is also the 3rd year in a row I've bet on his over for points. The last 2 years were low 40s (he had 44 and 52), this year was only 49 (he has 15 in 17).

So ya....I don't get it. But i'll take it

[finnys_fanatsy]

theres no love for Bo in my leaguer either..dunno why. TBH i didnt like em either. he was a throw in ina trade last season. i kept him and glad i did..

[bondon]

I've said this before in previous threads but Horvat has what it takes to be a consistent 60-point center in this league. He plays the game hard at both ends of the ice and he's going to be this team's next captain.

https://forums.dobbersports.com/show...0968-Bo-Horvat

His offense was super underrated IMO. While I wasn't happy about how things went down with the Schneider/Luongo saga I was actually very happy that the Canucks selected Horvat with the pick. A lot of people thought that Horvat was getting boosted by the likes of Marner and Domi at the time but if you watched the way he played you knew he was going to be solid. Great hands, great speed, great game sense...said it before but the only thing he really lacks is a great shot as he gets most of his points by crashing the net or using his speed.

[saucelife90]

I picked him up late in my draft not expecting him to still be available, and have been pleasantly surprised with his production so far.

I haven't caught many Canuck games, but maybe with Pettersson playing lights out and drawing the attention away from Horvat it's opening up some space for him to produce at his current rate.

[2014olympicgold]

He reminds me of that player who at drafts you're like, "why is he so highly ranked?", and you pass on him in the draft for the big boom players, then someone goes "Ok fine, I'll draft him" 20spots lower than he should go. Then during the season he has a 3-5game slump at the beginning of the year and you drop him for the hot player. Then he gets picked up and dropped throughout the year, but come the year end he's ranked in the top 40 centers. Every. Year.

He's a great C2, where you use him as a lock down center kind of player, solid captain material too. He's like...maybe a less skilled Kopitar? He'll have those seasons where he hits 70+pts, but he's a legit 60pt player.

I love him in real life, and the West Coast doesn't expose him enough, but fantasy wise he's a bench filler. But has the chance to be more for a few sprinkled years.

[Axeman33]

If there's one guy who's always been underappreciated, it's Nicklas Backstrom.

Sure, Horvat doesn't get much love but let's be honest, he's 60ish pt guy most seasons. Is he really that important?

[Canucks_fan18]

If there's one guy who's always been underappreciated, it's Nicklas Backstrom.

Sure, Horvat doesn't get much love but let's be honest, he's 60ish pt guy most seasons. Is he really that important?

This! Backstrom to date has had better production then John Tavares yet he's treated like Paul Statsney. As for Horvat he's a very nice 60 point player, which is why I think most don't value him, they just don't see the truly elite point upside.

[2014olympicgold]

This! Backstrom to date has had better production then John Tavares yet he's treated like Paul Statsney. As for Horvat he's a very nice 60 point player, which is why I think most don't value him, they just don't see the truly elite point upside.

Yes I agree with you Backstrom is underrated. But it's the G/A ratio that makes Tavares more appealing and Tavares has actually had a better output per 82games since the lockout year.

Backstrom since lockout (including lockout year):
464gp, 111G, 338A, 449pts
82gp, 19.6G, 59.7A, 79.3pts/82games

Tavares since lockout (including lockout year):
441gp, 196G, 240A, 436pts
82gp, 36.4G, 44.6A, 81pts/82games

[bondon]

For the record, underrated and underappreciated are two different things.

Everyone knows how good Backstrom is, we just take it for granted. A lot of people did not expect Horvat to have the chops to put up big numbers, when (at least in this guy's opinion) he does.

[Kabonov]

theres no love for Bo in my leaguer either..dunno why. TBH i didnt like em either. he was a throw in ina trade last season. i kept him and glad i did..

LOL same in my pool, and he's still riding the FA

[Axeman33]

For the record, underrated and underappreciated are two different things.

Everyone knows how good Backstrom is, we just take it for granted. A lot of people did not expect Horvat to have the chops to put up big numbers, when (at least in this guy's opinion) he does.

I don't really see it that way. If someone is undervalued, that means he's underappreciated. Vise-versa, if they are underappreciated, they are most likely undervalued as well. How many drafts do we see happening when a guy like Backstrom slides on draft day. Quite a few. It's getting worse now that he's hit the big 3-0 in age but he is still a PPG player.

[rangerdanger]

If your league has FW category, its pretty damn hard to argue. Without FW that changes a lot. But he now leads the league in FW and is scoring at a nice clip. Sure he might be a 60 point player ultimately. I think depending who he lines up with, there may even be a 70 point season in him or so, maybe 75. But his peripherals are what really makes him valuable in my leagues. Kind of like Ryan O'Reily.

I actually prefer Horvat to a guy like Monahan.

[Pacman]

Huberdeau is the most underrated forward in the nhl when it isn't multi cat.

[lucafen4]

I've likened Horvat as a 70+ potential C for the past couple years... he would have been mid-60's if not for the injury last season. With attention heading to Petterson, his line should see a touch more room & easier matchups.

70+ here we come!