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From that moment following Gary Bettman’s iconic, “I think you’re going to want to hear this,” the trade forever attached a burden to Horvat, one that could have crippled some prospects.

“We’ve talked about this as a family, and it’s what my dad said, ‘You’ll always be known as the player who was traded for Cory Schneider, it will always be with you. It couldn’t just be a normal draft, you had to get traded for one of the best goalies in the NHL,'” Horvat said.

But — and this is the greatest what-if of them all — what if the trade is what made Horvat? What if his millstone ends up his blessing, something that is driving him to prove people wrong?

Because no one expected this Horvat, not the one who is 21st in the NHL in even-strength goals-per-hour played, while leading the Canucks in both goals (eight) and points (16) and doing it at 21 years old.

Because no one expected this Horvat, the one who just had one of his best games as a Canuck on Saturday, a tour-du-force that included several self-generated scoring chances and 24 faceoff wins.

And, most importantly, no one saw this Horvat, the one who was among the fastest players in the Toronto game, against one of the league’s fastest teams. Horvat’s speed was impossible to miss in that game, and no one knows how he got it.

“The (speed) difference between (the first time I saw him) in Penticton and now is unbelievable,” his coach Willie Desjardins says. “I wouldn’t believe that was possible. I’ve talked to other players, who are good players, but maybe not quick, and said, ‘You should talk to Horvat and see what he did.'”