BRAEDEN COOTES VS BO HORVAT: VANCOUVER CANUCKS PROSPECT BREAKDOWN

BRAEDEN COOTES VS BO HORVAT: VANCOUVER CANUCKS PROSPECT BREAKDOWN

Yes, it is true we’re going to be talking about Vancouver Canucks young center Braden Coots, but it’s also true that we have to take a blast to the past 12 years ago when the Vancouver Conucks made themselves another firstround draft pick that inevitably became one of the franchis’s most important pieces. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s take a blast to the past from Braden Coots in 2025 all the way back to Bo Horvat in 2013. Man, look at these images. They’re so old and Bo Horvat is so young. Don’t you remember when this guy was drafted by the Vancouver Conucks in the 2013 draft in New Jersey after Vancouver traded away Cory Schneider to get the ninth overall pick? The conversations on the draft floor and on the draft programming were that Bo Horvat was the next Ryan O’Reilly. Well, in 2025, turns out Braden Coots, this guy’s being compared to Bo himself. And I get that it’s kind of funny to talk about Braden Coots as the next Bo Horvat because of course they’re both drafted by Vancouver and Bo was inevitably a captain. But I think there’s a very serious conversation to have about what Braden Coups is versus what Bo Horvat was 12 years ago in 2013’s preseason. To start things off, let’s dive into this post made by the Aranucks crew. Every second counts posted this a few days ago asking, “Was Bo Horvette as good as Coots at 18 years old?” Let’s read some of these responses and get into my thoughts afterwards. Delta Kuckian says pretty comparable. I think Bo Horvat was definitely generating some he might make the team buzz at 18. They’ve had similar point totals in junior though Bo was always more of a goal scorer and was seen as more ready in terms of size. Coots has him beat on speed and skating at this point though. It’s worth pointing out that Bo Horvette was on a stacked London team versus Coots being on a really weak Seattle team. London had two 80 point scorers in Doi and Griffith his draft year. Meanwhile, Coots and Pilling are the only guys to hit 60 points. The best answer is that it depends on what you value. Coots is a much better skater at their age and was more productive on Junior on a much worse team. Horvette had NHL size while Coots needs to put on some weight and Bo was viewed as a better scorer and was also drafted higher. Both were pretty similar with how pro ready their game is and their leadership. Captain Indoanadian says that from what I remember, Bo Horvat was simply a different player, but also close to NHL ready. Coots is more skilled in my opinion. His puck skills are nice and he’s miles ahead of what Bo was as a skater. Bo was more physically developed though. In my honest opinion, Horvette didn’t show the offensive upside as soon as Coots has, at least from the eye test. So, let’s take a blast back to the past and I wanted to give you some of my thoughts as to how this conversation shakes up because when Bo Horvette was drafted in the 2013 draft, he was slightly under a point per game. However, even though he was taken ninth overall by the Vancouver Conucks, there were some scouts that were thinking that this guy could have been a little bit higher. Now, back in 2013, readily available draft guides and mockdrafts weren’t as prevalent as they are today, at least on the internet. So, you can only find future considerations having him at number 23. However, there was the commentary from the Bo Horvette broadcast. I think it might have been Pierre Maguire, if not somebody else, who said essentially that at least one NHL team had Bo Horvat ranked as highly as number four on their draft board in that draft season. Now, that might not mean much to you when you think about who was taken in 2013, etc., But still, Bo was a bigger guy who was a little bit heavier, who had a lot worse skating compared to Coots, but who was a little bit more physically mature. And in that 201213 season, he did play very well. He was drafted by Vancouver. He didn’t make the team out of camp. He didn’t even get the nine games. But I remember myself like I was watching this guy and Hunter Shankarrick in the preseason thinking, “Hey, they’re pretty good.” And I was kind of disappointed when they got sent back down to junior listening to that broadcast on the radio as I was driving back home from elementary school or no, it was in my first year of high school, right? I started high school in 2013 with my parents. So obviously that was a memorable moment for me. But thinking about Braden Coots right now, there are some very big similarities just in terms of the style of game that they play. Defensively responsible up and down the ice. They like to get involved. Braden Coots, sure he is less physically mature compared to Bo Horvat. They’re the same height, yes, but Bo was a little stockier, especially as an 18-year-old. Braden Coots also was able to produce a little bit better than Bo did in the WHL his draft season. The point production thing also does make sense because Bo was playing on a very good London Knights squad and he also was able to up his point production the next season getting 74 points in 54 games. He made the Vancouver Conucks shortly after and had a few seasons where he was hovering around the 40 50 point mark before exploding and becoming a near 40 goal capable scorer with the team in 2023. Now for Bo, he was problematic in terms of his skating. That was always the problem with Bo Horvat. It’s that his feet weren’t really all too great. He needed to go through a lot of power skating lessons to get that footwork that he’s known for now. His north south sniping ability was one of the best qualities that he had in Vancouver, especially in that 2020 playoff run that the Canucks had. I mean, his ability to just dive down, center ice, and just score. It was pretty remarkable. And he wasn’t able to do that to the same capacity earlier on in his career. He had to work on the skating to get there. Braden Coots, on the other hand, he’s a lot better at skating already. His footwork works out. He’s able to keep up with NHL caliber talent and I’d say a lot of the mobility that you wish these junior guys had going into the NHL. Braden Coots is like almost there. If you give him another season in the WHL, which I don’t think would be a bad thing. If you give him another season, he’ll be able to get a little bit stronger, a little bit better. He knows what he needs to work on and next season he’ll come back hopefully flying out of a cannon and potentially even out producing Bo Horvat’s rookie year. That is, of course, assuming Braden Coots gets sent down without getting a nine-game sample, which I think at this point he’s earned, especially when you consider Neils Hoglander and Connor Garland’s questionable health status. Who knows, maybe by the time this video is uploaded on YouTube, Braden Coots has already gotten sent down. But at the time of recording this audio, I do think it’s realistic to think that he could get a nineame sample. And you also have to talk about leadership. Bo’s a really renowned leader. You can say what you want about his interviews throughout these dark Vancouver Conucks years where nothing was going right. Say what you want about how Bo Horvette handled those situations in the media, but he was always a really good kid that a lot of people around the teams that he played for respected and Braden Coots is the exact same way. We saw Rick Dollywal talk about this last week in Halford and Bruff. How the WHL Seattle Thunderbirds absolutely love this guy. He’s the first guy out there on the ice. He’s the first guy to show up to the arena. He’s the last guy to leave the ice. He’s committed to Seattle. He likes Seattle. They love him. And he wants to be able to do all of the things he can do development-wise with Seattle. There was a threat that he could potentially leave to the NCAA, but he wanted to plant his feet and say, “Yeah, I’m staying here, Pacific Northwest. I’m committed to this team. They want me here.” They lost out on Kevin Korchinsky a few years ago, and that didn’t work out all too well. So, Coots does not want to leave Seattle in the dust. That is of course assuming he goes back. If he does end up making the Vancouver Conucks for 82 games, superseding what Bo Horvette was capable of doing, then okay, be my guest. Braden Coots, show us that you’re worth it. But as of right now, I think there are some very comparable traits between the two centers that Vancouver ended up drafting. And we are really looking at a lot of this stuff now. A lot of people are talking about the conversation of Horvad and Coots. I think Ian McIntyre writing about it too in his article the other day doesn’t do anything to calm those conversations down. But I think it’s a pretty good talk to have, right? Especially when you think about where the Conucks are 12 years after the Bo Horvat pick in 2013. With all this in mind though, I want you to let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. How do you feel about the Coots versus Horvat comparison? If you enjoyed this video at any point, please click the like button. If you did not, then feel free to hit that dislike button. Comments also help out with the algorithm. I really appreciate it.

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We’re going over Vancouver Canucks top prospect Braeden Cootes, and how he compares to Bo Horvat from twelve years ago.

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/canucks/comments/1nrd4x1/was_horvat_as_good_as_cootes_at_18/

This video is taking place after the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, and after the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The 2025 NHL Draft 1st Round went as follows:

1st) New York Islanders, Matthew Schaefer
2nd) San Jose Sharks, Michael Misa
3rd) Chicago Blackhawks, Anton Frondell
4th) Utah Mammoth, Caleb Desnoyers
5th) Nashville Predators, Brady Martin
6th) Philadelphia Flyers, Porter Martone
7th) Boston Bruins, James Hagens
8th) Seattle Kraken, Jake O’Brien
9th) Buffalo Sabres, Radim Mrtka
10th) Anaheim Ducks, Roger McQueen
11th) Pittsburgh Penguins, Benjamin Kindel
12th) Philadelphia Flyers (from New York Rangers via Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins), Jack Nesbitt
13th) Detroit Red Wings, Carter Bear
14th) Columbus Blue Jackets, Jackson Smith
15th) Vancouver Canucks, Braeden Cootes
16th) New York Islanders (from Calgary Flames via Montreal Canadiens), Victor Eklund
17th) New York Islanders (from Montreal Canadiens), Kashawn Aitcheson
18th) Calgary Flames (from New Jersey Devils), Cole Reschny
19th) St. Louis Blues, Justin Carbonneau
20th) Columbus Blue Jackets (from Minnesota Wild), Pyotr Andreyanov
21st) Nashville Predators (from Ottawa Senators), Cameron Reid
22nd) Pittsburgh Penguins (from Colorado Avalanche via Philadelphia Flyers), Bill Zonnon
23rd) Ottawa Senators (from Tampa Bay Lightning via Nashville Predators), Logan Hensler
24th) Pittsburgh Penguins (from Los Angeles Kings), Will Horcoff
25th) Chicago Blackhawks (from Toronto Maple Leafs), Vaclav Nestrasil
26th) Nashville Predators (from Vegas Golden Knights via San Jose Sharks), Ryker Lee
27th) Washington Capitals, Lynden Lakovic
28th) Winnipeg Jets, Sascha Boumedienne
29th) Chicago Blackhawks (from Carolina Hurricanes), Mason West
30th) San Jose Sharks (from Dallas Stars), Joshua Ravensbergen
31st) Los Angeles Kings (from Edmonton Oilers via Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins), Henry Brzustewicz
32nd) Calgary Flames (from Florida Panthers), Cullen Potter

This video is also taking place after 2025 NHL Season, and after the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the Finals.

Bo Horvat was one of the top NHL prospects at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

The 2013 NHL Entry Draft saw many top NHL prospects get selected by a variety of teams. The first round of the draft went as follows:

1st – Colorado Avalanche, Nathan MacKinnon
2nd – Florida Panthers, Aleksander Barkov
3rd – Tampa Bay Lightning, Jonathan Drouin
4th – Nashville Predators, Seth Jones
5th – Carolina Hurricanes, Elias Lindholm
6th – Calgary Flames, Sean Monahan
7th – Edmonton Oilers, Darnell Nurse
8th – Buffalo Sabres, Rasmus Ristolainen
9th – Vancouver Canucks (from New Jersey Devils), Bo Horvat
10th – Dallas Stars, Valeri Nichushkin
11th – Philadelphia flyers, Samuel Morin
12th – Phoenix Coyotes, Max Domi
13th – Winnipeg Jets, Josh Morrissey
14th – Columbus Blue Jackets, Alexander Wennberg
15th – New York Islanders, Ryan Pulock
16th – Buffalo Sabres (from Minnesota Wild), Nikita Zadorov
17th – Ottawa Senators, Curtis Lazar
18th – San Jose Sharks (from Detroit Red Wings), Mirco Mueller
19th – Columbus Blue Jackets (from New York Rangers), Kerby Rychel
20th – Detroit Red Wings (from San Jose Sharks), Anthony Mantha
21st – Toronto Maple Leafs, Frederik Gauthier
22nd – Calgary Flames (from St. Louis Blues), Emile Poirier
23rd – Washington Capitals, Andre Burakovsky
24th – Vancouver Canucks, Hunter Shinkaruk
25th – Montreal Canadiens, Michael McCarron
26th – Anaheim Ducks, Shea Theodore
27th – Columbus Blue Jackets (from Los Angeles Kings), Marko Dano
28th – Calgary Flames (from Pittsburgh Penguins), Morgan Klimchuk
29th – Dallas Stars (from Boston Bruins), Jason Dickinson
30th – Chicago Blackhawks, Ryan Hartman

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Hi. I’m “Gio Palermo”, also known as “legorocks99” (“legorocks99Gaming”, “LR99Gaming”, or “LR99”). I post video game commentaries on YouTube revolving around “hockey”, with a primary focus on “Vancouver Canucks”, “Montreal Canadiens”, “Detroit Red Wings”, and top “NHL prospects” topics. These videos are uploaded with “NHL 26” gameplay in the background. I enjoy making these videos and I hope that you enjoy watching them!

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