Allvin lists Canucks core players, leaves out Brock Boeser
Is Brock Boeser still part of the Vancouver Canucks’ core?
It depends who you ask, I suppose.
At one time, Boeser was undoubtedly one of the building blocks of the franchise. Some would say he still is.
But what does Canucks GM Patrik Allvin think?
After a quieter summer than most expected, Allvin was asked by Global’s Jay Janower if keeping his core group of players intact should be considered a vote of confidence for them.
“Well, I think [depends] on who the players that you’re putting in the core,” Allvin said with a wry smile.
So Janower followed up by asking Allvin who he believes are his core players.
The answer contained one notable omission.
“I think you have a tremendous goalie in Demko, and then you have Quinn Hughes on the back end,” Allvin began. “You’ve got Pettersson, and Miller, and Horvat, you know. I think that they’re as good as players as in the league, in this age where you believe that they’re going to be able to take the next step in order for us to get better.”
Boeser, who will be Vancouver’s second-highest paid forward next season after Elias Pettersson, was not named by Allvin.
Perhaps the 25-year-old forward, who Allvin re-signed this summer, just slipped the GM’s mind. Or perhaps it’s a statement on how Canucks management views Boeser.
This is a big year for Boeser, who was largely a disappointment last season, albeit with 23 goals.
Boeser has failed to surpass the points-per-game rate (0.89) he set in his rookie season in 2017-18. He scored 29 goals and 55 points that year before a season-ending injury limited him to 62 games.
Scoring 30 goals in a season seemed like an inevitability for Boeser back then. Some thought he would one day score 40, or maybe even 50 goals in an NHL season.
It hasn’t happened, though injuries have been a contributing factor.
Top 20 #Canucks scorers since the start of the 2019-20 season pic.twitter.com/WK8ozjT0ys
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) September 2, 2022
The Burnsville, Minnesota product will count $6.65 million against the cap for the next three seasons, so the pressure is on to produce. Boeser can be traded without restriction in each of the next two seasons, before a limited no-trade clause kicks in, and the Canucks do have depth on the wing.
None of this means that Allvin has any desire to deal his best goal-scoring winger, but perhaps it speaks to a different view of a player that’s about to enter his sixth NHL season.
The Canucks need Boeser to not only stay healthy but to be the goal-scoring sniper everyone once thought he would be at this stage of his career.
If he does that, perhaps Allvin will need to reconsider his list of core players.
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