Vancouver Canucks rookie forward Bo Horvat will rejoin the club this weekend, at the end of his two-week conditioning loan with the AHL's Utica Comets.
"(Horvat) missed two and a half weeks of hockey," explained Canucks general manager Jim Benning during an appearance on TSN 1040 radio in Vancouver on Thursday. "He's an important guy for us going forward - so we didn't want him to just (get put) in an NHL game after missing that time.
"We wanted him to get his legs underneath him, get his timing back, and y'know, when he's comfortable in his game we'll call him back up and he'll get an opportunity to play with us."
Benning went on to explain that Horvat's conditioning stint - which can last for a maximum of two weeks, or six AHL games - will conclude on Sunday, at which point he'll rejoin the Canucks.
A two-way ace and faceoff specialist at the junior level, the Canucks have to be hoping that Horvat can at the very least help the team win draws. So far this season, the Canucks have won an anemic 45.7 percent of faceoffs, according to faceoffs.net, good for the third worst mark among all NHL teams.
