Amid reports of little trade interest, Brock Boeser may very well remain with Vancouver Canucks for next season and perhaps beyond
Don't throw away those Brock Boeser jerseys just yet.
According to a report by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Vancouver Canucks are not fielding many trade calls on the the 26-year-old winger, with the suggestion that the team is preparing to keep Boeser for next season — and beyond.
The Canucks desperately need to clear cap space and Boeser's name has been in the rumour mill for more than a year now. At one point last season, his agent Ben Hankinson was granted permission by the Canucks to seek out and broker a deal. That did not happen. And Boeser remains on the Canucks roster.
With that in mind, it's fair to wonder if Boeser will play out the remainder of his contract with the only National Hockey League team he's known since he was selected by the Canucks in the first round of the 2015 draft. The Burnsville, Minn., native has two years remaining on his current deal that carries a $6.65-million cap hit. That makes him the third-highest paid forward on the team behind Elias Pettersson and JT Miller.
Boeser played a career-high 74 games last season, registering 18 goals and 55 points. If he returns for the 2023-24 season, questions remain about where he slots in on the depth chart along with his role on the team's top power-play unit. Boeser spent much of his time after January's coaching change playing alongside JT Miller.
Rick Tocchet, who took over coaching duties mid-way through the season, could consider that duo again along with Ilya Mikheyev or perhaps Phil DiGiuseppe on the other side.
Once considered a lock to be a 30-goal scorer, Boeser has still not reached that mark in his six NHL seasons. He scored 29 goals in 62 games as a rookie and followed that up with a 26-goal campaign the following year. He saw a dip his goal-scoring production last season after back-to-back 23-goal seasons. Beyond that, there were concerns about Boeser's play away from the puck, with the Canucks outscored by 14 and controlling just 43.8% of expected goals at 5-on-5 with the winger on the ice.
The fact that teams are not contacting the Canucks about Boeser is likely more of a reflection of his price point than it is about him as a player.
Still if the Canucks find an opportunity to off-load the remainder of the financial commitment to Boeser to give them some cap flexibility, they will have to consider it. It may, however, have to wait until next season when there is one year left on the deal or perhaps even until the 2025 NHL trade deadline.