‘My main goal is to try and make this team,’ says Canucks prospect Bo Horvat. If he doesn’t, he’ll return to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. Photograph by: Ric Ernst , PNG

VANCOUVER -- London was calling but, for Bo Horvat, it’s Vancouver now.

The elite Vancouver Canucks prospect is still a junior at age 19 and thus remains tied to the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights. He attended their 2014 training camp and played in four intra-squad games for them.

Then the Knights, who are led by former NHLers Mark and Dale Hunter, did something special for Horvat. They excused him from the OHL exhibition season so he could chase his NHL dream. Horvat has been in Vancouver since Labour Day, skating with Canuck veterans and other top prospects — Hunter Shinkaruk, Nicklas Jensen, Brendan Gaunce and Dane Fox among them — in informal workouts at Britannia Arena.

Horvat’s next official function is the Young Stars tournament in Penticton. It begins Thursday with a practice and Friday with a game against the Edmonton Oiler prospects. Bo knows the Hunters were within their rights to keep him in London until the last possible moment, but they chose to let him go early.

“Oh, for sure, they could have said they wanted me to stay, but the Hunters know what it takes to get to the next level,” Horvat explained. “They’ve played in the NHL and they understand the situation 100 per cent. So for them to let me come out here early, it shows a lot of respect for me. That’s why London is a great organization.”

The Canucks, he noted, were the ones pushing for Horvat to join the group skating at Britannia. Their reasoning was obvious: doing drills and scrimmaging daily with the Sedin twins, Alex Burrows, Chris Higgins and other members of the big club would likely benefit Horvat more than any junior exhibition game.

“They just thought it would be best if I came out here a little bit earlier and skated with these guys and just kind of got my legs under me before I go off to Penticton,” he said. “The Knights were totally fine with it. They just wanted me to participate in their training camp to kind of be a leader there and show the younger guys, but as soon as the intra-squad games and stuff were over they said it was fine to go out to Vancouver.”

Horvat’s situation has, of course, been well documented. Ousted general manager Mike Gillis dealt No. 1 goalie Cory Schneider to New Jersey at the 2013 entry draft for the pick that became Horvat. No pressure there, right? Now Horvat, as a 19-year-old, is facing the prospect of a fourth season in junior if he is unable to crack the Canucks’ lineup. There can be no American Hockey League for him. He is too young.

He concedes it is weighing on him. Shinkaruk, Gaunce and Fox are all older and eligible to be assigned to the Canucks’ Utica Comets farm team. They will be available for call-ups at any time. For Horvat, there is no such luxury. If he goes back to London, he will be frozen in London until the Knights are eliminated from the playoffs, or miss them entirely.