Countdown to Deal Close: 25 Days Left Until the March 3 NHL Deadline – Breaking Down Vancouver Canucks Winger Brock Boeser

With less than four weeks until the March 3 NHL close, let’s take a look at Vancouver Canucks winger Brock Boeser.

Deal Close Countdown 2023: 25 days

BROCK BOESER

• Right wing, Vancouver Canucks
• Shoots: Right
• Age: 25
• Height: 6-foot-1| Weight: 208 pounds.
• Cap hit: $6.65 million
• Duration: Two more seasons
• Commercial Clauses: No Restrictions
• Stats: 41 GP, nine goals, 21 assists, 30 points, 16:45 average TOI
• Career: Seventh season (all with Vancouver), 365 GP, 130 goals, 286 points, 18:21 average TOI

Archetype and ideal role

Protect. Second line, first unit power play.

Despite scoring among the lowest goals in the group, Boeser was in the top 30 in the league last season in terms of shots attempted, shots out of slot, one-timers and expected goals per game. Ideally, Boeser would slip to the second line and power play of a team’s first unit and catch up at the 23-25 ​​goal pace he’s spent most of his career at.

scouting report

Coming into the NHL as a 20-year-old in his rookie season with 38 goals, Boeser was known for his “brocket” shot. Since then, his game has changed a bit. But he still possesses a quick, accurate and hard shot that he often uses to beat goalies off the rush or when he’s on the net front on a power play.

How did he get there? Boeser has a knack for goals due to his keen sense for offense. He can see and feel pressure in the offensive zone, find soft ice without a puck and adjust for quick shots, or find space behind defenders for a good view of the net.

Boeser is flexible, which means he can be effective in many different ways offensively. He’s not rigid. He’s best away from the puck as he’s not a natural distributor, but when he owns the puck he protects it well and plays better with players who like to play under the points. He uses the combination of his chunky size, broad base, and strong edges to fend off defenders and make subtle give-and-go plays that usually lead to good chances. When playing on a more attacking line, Boeser uses his offensive sense to find space and prepare for a shot. He was just as successful this year with Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson.

When he finds the spot to shoot, Boeser has an elite shot – as evidenced by his 13 percent career shooting percentage – although that has been hampered this year by a hand injury he sustained on the third day of training camp. The shot is quick, hard, and deadly accurate – and its release is deceptive, to the point where it can, and often does, beat goalies from mid-range.

Attention buyers

So if Boeser has a top-notch shot and shot on goal, why is he on the range this year in a full 82-game season, scoring just 18 goals? Hand injury aside, maybe things just took their course in Vancouver. He has missed time with a host of injuries and has had a lot to cope with off the ice in his relatively young career, most notably the death of his father last May. Additionally, he was rumored to have been traded for the past year and his agent Ben Hankinson was finally allowed to find a trading partner in December.

The trade rumours, his injuries and his off-ice tragedy would weigh on any player but Boeser went on with a good attitude and put in the work. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s on course for his worst full-time goal overall this year, in part due to injury but likely in no small part to the dark clouds that have been hanging over his for more than a year head twirl

The teams are aware that Boeser was never a great skater. He lacks separation speed, which limits his ability to create the space needed to disperse the puck and limits him to a supplemental marksman role. That’s forcing coaches to play it with faster players who can get pucks quicker and take them to Boeser to see, like Ilya Mikheyev did in Vancouver this year. His first three steps are average, but once he’s on the move, reading the play can put him in an elite position. He’s strong on his skates, able to absorb contact and make small-scale plays to get into places to shoot under pressure.

Boeser’s lack of pace also affects his defensive ability. He’s often late for backchecks, and once inside the defensive zone, he usually responds to pressure rather than anticipating trajectories. He tends to cheat on offense, giving him a small edge out of the zone that can burn his team from time to time. Any team hoping for a deep playoff run needs players committed to playing in all three zones, and Boeser has shown inconsistency on the defensive side of the puck.

Possible fits

• New Jersey Devil: So we know Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald says they are looking for a top 6 winger under team control. We think the target is Timo Meier. But if Meier flops, is Boeser a decent checkdown option? Its initial cost and impact on the salary cap over the next few years will be much more affordable.
• New York Rangers: See above. Meier is undoubtedly Rangers’ #1 target. We’re not sure New York is that keen on the player serving a tenure. So if Meier falls through, it’s easy to see Rangers targeting a player like James van Riemsdyk, whose batting teams will match Boeser on loan with the trade market.
• Pittsburgh penguins: GM Ron Hextall said Sunday the Pens are not looking to trade their first-round picks. Boeser wouldn’t cost a first-round pick. With both Jason Zucker and Brian Dumoulin coming off the books next season, Boeser could bolster Pittsburgh’s push on the track and add some firepower in the years to come with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Canucks president Jim Rutherford has traded and traded for Kasperi Kapanen before, and he could do it again to earn the money and trades for both teams.
• Calgary Flames: The Flames have been looking for a prolific winger since August when they signed Nazem Kadri in the centre. Boeser makes sense, he typically scores 20+ goals a year and it’s an easy sell for a team that may not be in the rental market. His price won’t be anywhere near what they paid for Tyler Toffoli. But it’s harder to envision a way for the money to work next season and beyond when Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar’s contracts take effect.
• Washington Capitals: The Caps went on an all-star spending spree at the break with Dylan Strome and Sonny Milano. They still have a lot of expiring contracts and room for next season, but they’d have to send a player the other way to make the money work.
• Minnesota Wilderness: The Wild seems to be connected to Boeser, but how much of that is because Boeser is a Minnesota kid? Maybe that makes sense. But the salary cap gymnastics would have to be pretty extensive for it all to work, and it feels like there’s more smoke than fire there.
• buffalo saber: The Sabers have room to burn and are in the midst of a playoff push. Here’s the thing: Buffalo has pledged not to sign players who get in the way of their young players. Jack Quinn has had a solid rookie season on the wing with a performance already not far off Boeser’s year. Victor Olofsson was also quietly strong. Is there any job for Boeser that would fit into her age pattern?

Comparable trading returns

There are a few things to consider when forecasting a potential return for Boeser. Are the Canucks willing to keep any salary? Most teams consider Boeser to be about $1 million overpaid compared to his current production. Withholding a million or even a little more would greatly increase the return on the trade, but also further dull Vancouver’s push for salary cap flexibility, eating up one of the three allocated transactions for withheld salaries for two more seasons.

The Canucks are also interested in current, NHL-eligible players ages 25 and under. So if they decide to go that route as opposed to futures, it will obviously change the return.

It all depends on how aggressive the Canucks want to be, because depending on how they evaluate the salary cap freedom versus the rate of return for Boeser, the deal could swing wildly, with assets of value being preserved and having to pay to move on.

With that in mind, here are some recent frameworks:

July 28, 2021
To Vegas: Evgeni Dadonov
To Ottawa: Nick Holden, third-round pick 2022 (the other Elias Pettersson)

July 23, 2021
To St Louis: Pavel Buchnevich
To the NY Rangers: Sammy Blais, 2022 second-round pick (Elias Salomonsson)

The return for Boeser at the moment is likely somewhere between a second- and third-round pick. This summer of 2021, as a 25-year-old (the same age as Boeser), Buchnevich finished a season with 20 goals and 48 points in just 54 games, and Rangers were unwilling to pay for his RFA arbitration. He’s got off to a flying start since trading with a 76-point season last year and earns $5.8 million on a four-year contract.

Summary

There’s no doubt that Boeser has the talent to be an influential NHL player. When partnered with the right players and used in the right situations, he can create scoring opportunities for a team trying to clear the playoff hurdle. Any accepting team will believe that a change of scenery is just what it takes to go back to being the consistent 25-goal scorer and power-play threat he used to be. It’ll be a gamble either way with a $6.65 million cap hit for the next two seasons.

Source: www.yardbarker.com