With a rebuild underway, the Canucks would probably be willing to deal 29-year-old winger Brock Boeser. Could he fill the Senators' need for a top-six winger? Would the cost be worth it?
Ask the average Senators fan to identify the team’s biggest need, and the answer would probably be a proven top-six forward.
Specifically, the Senators could use another winger who can finish. Brock Boeser has shown in the past he can do just that, which makes the Vancouver Canucks right winger an interesting name to consider.
TSN’s Travis Yost wrote on Tuesday about the rebuilding Canucks and how they have good reason to explore a Boeser trade. Vancouver finished dead last in the NHL in 2025-26 and appears to be in full rebuild.
On the surface, Boeser looks like the kind of player the Senators should be calling about.
He has six 20-goal seasons on his resume and might fit nicely in the Senators’ top six. His greatest strength is his ability to find open ice and finish, something the Sens could have used in the playoffs this year.
In the intangibles department, Steve Staios had some recent trade rapport with the Canucks, who tried (and failed) to move up in the June draft and acquire the Sens' first-round pick at 25th overall. The Sens also employ Boeser’s cousin, Dan, in their scouting department.
But the deeper you look, the less obvious the fit becomes.
For one, Boeser has a no move clause for the next three years and just signed a long-term deal last summer. He accepted less money that he could have received elsewhere because, in his words, his “heart was still in Vancouver.” If he was in a hurry to leave Vancouver, that probably would have happened last year.
But his love of Vancouver might not be a huge hurdle to clear. He probably didn't count on the Canucks' becoming so awful last season. No 29-year-old wants to sign up for a long rebuild, not if he has other options.
The bigger red flag is that Boeser has also produced two pretty ordinary seasons since his career year in 2023–24. He finished last season with 22 goals and 48 points in 75 games after recording 25 goals and 50 points the year before.
Those totals aren’t bad, especially considering the dysfunction in Vancouver. But they’re still not quite what you expect for a winger carrying a $7.25-million cap hit.
Boeser’s 2025-26 season also came with an eye-popping minus-48 rating. Plus-minus is a flawed stat (as many are), but when you’re at least seven points worse than every single player in the league, that’s hard to overlook entirely.
The biggest question is whether Boeser’s 2023–24 performance represents a level he can reach again or a total outlier.
Boeser scored 40 goals and 73 points that year, easily establishing career highs in both categories. He then added seven goals and 12 points in 12 playoff games. That version of Boeser would be a major addition for the Sens.
But that has’t been his norm.
He had never scored more than 29 goals before that season and has never had more than 56 points in any other campaign. His shooting percentage also jumped to 19.6 percent during his 40-goal year. That’s well above his career average of 14 percent.
The Senators would therefore be acquiring a player capable of scoring 40, but whose more typical production falls somewhere in the range of 25 goals and 50 to 55 points.
That would still help any team. The issue is what Ottawa would have to pay for it.
Boeser signed a seven-year, $50.75-million contract with Vancouver in July 2025. The deal carries a $7.25-million annual cap hit through the 2031-32 season, when Boeser will be 35.
Had the Sens acquired him as a free agent last year for nothing more than money, that commitment might have been worth considering. But adding the cost of a trade changes the equation.
Despite his recent production, the Canucks would have little reason to give Boeser away. He remains a recognizable top-six scorer with term, and a rebuilding team would want picks, prospects or young NHL players in return.
That could mean giving up part of a Sens prospect pool it has only recently begun to replenish. It could also require moving out salary to accommodate Boeser’s addition while also keeping things flexible.
When it comes to a desire for cap flexibility, Staios prefers to be limber like a yoga instructor.
But he should still make the call if he hasn’t already. Boeser might address a legitimate need and might be energized the way Dylan Cozens was in 2025. It costs nothing to find out what Vancouver wants.
But unless the acquisition price is surprisingly reasonable, the Senators should probably look elsewhere. There's a reasonable chance that Boeser's recent production is his new normal. If so, the Sens probably have internal options who can move up in the batting order and replicate that for free.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article was first published in The Hockey News. For more Sens coverage at The Hockey News, click on one of the latest headlines below:
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