I don't think it's that bad.
He is only 30 yo and has 6 years.
He has very good shot, he is very good interior scorer, not just breakaway tool. He can tip the puck, find open space. He needs to play with good player with good hands what he is actually doing with Barzal, He needs in driver, but he would play with Jack or Bratt for the Devils. He is okayish positinally, not a fan of his game "against" without the puck. He isnt very physical but still he is physical.
View attachment 1030630
You like Jfresh so I tried to find his cards
View attachment 1030631
Its a his card from jan-feb 2023
View attachment 1030632
This card is from dec 2023. So yeah - not a great defensive player. But as I remember we need offense.
He has 39 points 5 on 5 this year. Only Bratt has more from the Devils - 41 points. And Horvat played without Barzal most of the time this season(only 6 points 5 on 5 this year). Horvat has 1.95 points per 60, only Bratt and Jack has more from regulars. He is positive in all metrics like CF% FF% SF% HDC% xG% etc, his SA and xGA are on the level with Bratt.
I would prefer Barzal to trade but I dont think its real and I dont think that Horvat doesnt have 4 years under the belt at least. We have 5 years of Jack and he is some kind of a real candidate to trade for maximazing this window. So I dont see big problems with him when he will play in top-6 or as a third line center with Bratt on the wing (Nico-Timo, Jack-Grits, Horvat-Bratt sounds amazing). I would like Larkin a lot more(more than Horvat, more than Barzal) but again for now i dont see it is real to trade him for.