Boeser is Canucks’ “Easy” Trade, Forward Teases Moving On

“Any team that’s not doing well, there’s going to be changes,” Brock Boeser said told the media this week. Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet put together an article about Boeser’s future with the Vancouver Canucks, exploring what could be going on behind the scenes as the organization deals with what feels like endless and unshakable drama. Boeser knows that in the middle of this mess is a possible trade that would send him elsewhere at the deadline.

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Boeser explained:

“I haven’t played to my best this year, and I expect better for myself and, you know, I’m a UFA at the end of the year. So they could look at me and be like, ‘He’s the easy guy (to trade) right now.'”

It might actually be best for Boeser if a trade were made. He doesn’t want to leave the Canucks and if he could finish things out and help the team win, he’d like to. But, the idea that Vancouver is going to be competitive this season feels farther and farther away with every passing game. And Boeser, a pending UFA, needs to know he’s in the best situation to maximize his earnings.

Boeser Could Make More If He Plays Somewhere Else

“I don’t want it to end like this,” he said. Still, his production has fallen in a contract year. With 15 goals in 37 games, he’s on pace for 33 goals. It’s solid, and it will earn him a nice payday. That said, he scored 40 last season, and a 40-goal guy gets paid a whole lot more than a 30-goal one.

And, if Boeser is part of a winning team and produces in the playoffs, his value jumps even further. He may not get the chance if things continue on in Vancouver like they have over the past several weeks.

The Canucks should be able to trade Boeser without much issue. In fact, they’d like to be able to trade him a lot more quickly than they could, either Elias Pettersson or J.T. Miller. There’s a market for all three, but Boeser is a pending UFA. He’s a rental and the returns are a bit easier to figure out on deadline rental forwards.

The Canucks could be doing Boeser a solid by letting him move on. If he really wants to come back and the team has sorted out their drama by next year, he can always look at them in the offseason. If they’re still trying to babysit Pettersson and Miller, Boeser should distance himself from that mess if he can.

Nick Kypreos writes, “Make no mistake, the Canucks like their team overall, but don’t feel they’re in a position to rent their own player this season, which makes it far more likely than not Boeser gets traded before the deadline.”

Boeser Is Hoping For One Last Chance to Right the Ship

“We’re still a point out of the wild card. That’s a blessing. Like, if we right this ship and start winning some games, we’re right there,” Boeser said. He added that it’s a positive they should take from their situation. “That’s one of the positives we need to take away right now: we’re right there. “We’ve got to come together as a group. That’s the only way that we’re going to get out of this — if we stick together and have each other’s backs.”

Right now, Miller and Pettersson don’t seem to keen on doing that. If they can’t put their difference aside, is Boeser ready to accept a trade to a place where this kind of bickering is a lot less of an issue?

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