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Bo knows.

Ask Bo Horvat where he projects as a promising Vancouver Canucks centre and there’s no hesitation.

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The answer is as quick as his vastly improved stride and a wrist shot that not only has him tied for the team lead in goals with six — on pace for a career-high 25 goals — he’s also tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with two.

Those are first-line numbers, and that’s where the 21-year-old Horvat can eventually see himself.

“Absolutely,” he said Monday. “You want to strive for that. You obviously want to keep working your way up the lineup and keep improving, but the path I’m on now, I’m on my way to the next step.

“I just have to keep playing well and earn my spot there.”

The next step for the Canucks is a first-line succession plan.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin are 36 years old and have a year left on their respective contracts. In a perfect world, they would have already transitioned to become second-line players, but projections here are far from perfect. A future first line? Maybe top-rated college prospect Brock Boeser? And maybe it’s why trade rumours about the mercurial Evander Kane haven’t really died down in Buffalo.