Boeser rejects Vancouver Canucks contract and here's what they offered him
Time is ticking on the Vancouver Canucks and Brock Boeser agreeing on a new contract.
The winger will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The Canucks would like clarity on his future before the March 7 trade deadline so they don’t have to risk letting him walk for free in the summer.
That gives both sides a week to agree on a deal before the pressure mounts on the Canucks to swing a deal.
It’s been reported that the key difference between the two sides rests in the length of the contract. The Canucks can give Boeser a maximum of eight years; any other team in free agency would be willing to offer seven. But it’s become clear the Canucks don’t want to go that far.
The organization put forward a five-year, $40 million offer to Boeser per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. That would make the Minnesota native the second highest-paid forward on the Canucks, only behind Elias Pettersson.
That’s not a massive jump from the $6.65 he’s making currently, and it looks even smaller when you consider the rising salary cap. But the winger is reportedly most concerned about the term and would like a longer deal.
Boeser scored 40 goals last season during a breakout year and is on pace for around 30 this year. He’s stayed relatively healthy over the past two seasons, sans missing a few games after taking an ugly hit and missing one game in last year’s playoffs because of blood clots. He’s answered all the questions Canucks management had of him entering this year.
The 28-year-old Boeser has never been the fastest skater. This year, both his top speed and his speed bursts over 20 miles per hour rank below the 50th percentile among all NHL forwards per NHL Edge data. The Canucks are concerned that as he ages and his foot speed falls even further, he may struggle to remain an effective player.
If the two sides can’t agree on a deal and the Canucks are forced into a trade, the return might not be as much as people would hope. As a pending unrestricted free-agent winger, the market is unlikely to be super competitive. However, they could likely recoup a decent draft pick.
This might not work for the Canucks, as they’re not trying to get worse while they chase a playoff spot, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. That makes finding a trade even more difficult.
Trading Boeser would also exacerbate one of the Canucks biggest issues: scoring goals. They didn’t score more than three in any of their eight games in February.
Time is winding down on the two sides to make a deal happen. The next seven days should include some intense negotiations from both sides as they work towards a solution.