NHL Trades and Rumors

Canucks May Have To Settle For Lesser Return in Boeser Trade

If the Vancouver Canucks are eager to trade Brock Boeser, they might have to settle for a return that is less than what they’d like.

by
NHL Trade Talk
December 5, 2022

After reporting that the Vancouver Canucks have told Brock Boeser and his reps that they are welcome to talk to other teams about facilitating a trade, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman is now reporting that the Canucks might be prepared to settle for a lesser return on the player, just to move him and clear out his salary.

Friedman notes on the 32 Thoughts podcast that the Canucks have been open to trading Boeser in the past, but now there is talk that the Canucks are thinking of tearing things down. If that happens, Boeser would be among the first players the team would look at to move money out.

Friedman says there are not a lot of teams that would have the room to take on Boeser’s salary and understand they will have to settle for a less-than-stellar return. Friedman noted, “It’s not going to be an easy trade for the Canucks to make, there’s not a lot of teams that have the cap room and the Canucks may have to understand that if they want to make the move they might not get the best return but I think they do understand that.”

Friedman adds that the bigger story here might be that this is the start of a dismantling in Vancouver. He notes, “And what I think they’re going to do is they’re going to say we have to create cap room, we have to change our mix and if that means if we trade Boeser and maybe our return isn’t great we still at least create the cap room and I think that’s a possibility here.” Friedman suggested the team will look at a few things in addition to Boeser, and Bo Horvat’s name has come up in that regard. Things are trending the direction of Horvat possibly being moved as well.

It seems like much of this will depend on how the season continues to go in Vancouver. If the team struggles and they feel it’s time to start again, expect both players to be moved. Horvat is a rental, so he won’t be tough to send elsewhere. Boeser could take some convincing and the Canucks settling for the best offer that’s out there.

Next: Erik Karlsson Comments on Trade Rumors Out of San Jose