I suppose that anything is possible, but it depends on how much effort you are willing to expend. Simulation has two functions, education and design verification. If the development of a model for the AT90CAN128 were to cost $100,000.00 would you rather spend the money on the simulator or on developing your hardware. On the other hand if the mask charge for an ASIC was $100,000.00 would you rather spend money to ensure you did not have to pay the mask charge twice? If so, how much.
If you have limited experience with CAN I suggest you budget for two turns of a PCB. You'll get there faster if you do it that way.