Tomas Hertl has 86 goals, 186 points in 344 games. This season, Hertl has 5 goals, 16 points in 16 GP.
Bo Horvat has 81 goals, 179 points in 317 games. This season, Horvat has 10 goals, 19 points in 23 GP.
Hertl and Horvat both scored a career-high 22 goals last season, although it took Hertl 79 games to do so and Horvat 64 games (injured).
Hertl has taken 2388 faceoffs in his career and has won 52.1% of them. Since last season, he has taken 1323 and won 51.0%.
Horvat has taken 5753 faceoffs in his career and has won 52.0% of them. Since last season, he has taken 1914 and won 54.4%.
Both players are on pace for career highs in points. However, I think Hertl plays behind quite a few other high-end offensive players. Horvat is much more of an individual line driver with less support.
Horvat is much more important to his team as its first-line center than Hertl is as a secondary piece. That said, Hertl is San Jose's preferred penalty-killing forward with the most forward SH TOI on the team per game. Horvat is adapting to that role.
This is a smart poll, but I think Horvat's trajectory is higher than Hertl's. There continues to be monumental improvement in Horvat's game, whereas the improvements are less apparent in Hertl's game.
Horvat plays under tougher circumstances than Hertl. I think Bo is the better player. He has a quick-strike element that Hertl doesn't possess. The Canucks would flounder without him as they did last season.
Hertl is also 1.5 years older with an extra NHL season under his belt.