Free agent wingers Vancouver Canucks could sign to replace Boeser
The Vancouver Canucks and Brock Boeser seem to be heading for a divorce.
The 28-year-old has been eligible for a contract extension since July 1 of last summer, but talks have not resulted in a new deal. While general manager Patrik Allvin has made quick work of other extensions, such as those for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor, the same can’t be said for Boeser.
At this point, the Canucks have shown little interest in making the major concessions needed to re-sign Boeser. He’s currently playing in the bottom six, where he’s been ineffective and looks out of place. Allvin also made some controversial comments after the trade deadline where he implied that Boeser’s value was low in the league. It feels like the relationship is coming to an end.
It feels unlikely either side will budge on the key disagreement, which has been reported to be the term of the deal. Boeser will very likely test free agency, and the Canucks will need to find a replacement.
The bad news for the Canucks is that this year’s free agency class isn’t strong. Combined with the salary cap jumping by $7.5 million, it feels like what little elite talent is available will cost a fortune.
Mitch Marner is the biggest name among the pending UFAs. He has 80 points in 65 games this season and plays the same position as Boeser. However, it feels extremely unlikely he would leave Toronto for another intense Canadian market, and he’ll also likely get a higher salary than the Canucks are willing to pay.
Potential Boeser replacements in free agency
While Marner is an unlikely option, there are a few other more realistic wingers the Canucks could target as a Boeser replacement.
Nikolaj Ehlers is 29 years old and has 21 goals and 57 points in 59 games so far this year. He also has eight 20-goal seasons under his belt. The biggest difference between him and Boeser is foot speed. While Boeser is not the fastest player, Ehlers ranks in the 94th percentile for top skating speed among forwards this year and 87th percentile for number of speed bursts over 20 miles per hour.
Ehlers has scored 222 career goals while only finishing two seasons with an average time-on-ice above 17 minutes. He checks a lot of boxes but will likely cost a pretty penny in the summer, especially considering the lack of good options on the market.
The next tier down from Ehlers includes players like Jack Roslovic, who can play both centre and right wing. The Canucks have had rumoured interest in Roslovic in the past, and he’s still relatively young for a free agent, as he’s just 28 years old.
With 21 goals and 33 points in 66 games this season, Roslovic is just one goal shy of tying his career-high. He is shooting 18.3% this year, far above his career average of 12.6%, which has helped inflate his goal total, but not overly so.
Roslovic is 6-foot-1 and a strong skater, ranking in the 80th percentile or above for skating stats per NHL Edge. Those are both qualities that the Canucks covet.
Beyond Ehlers and Roslovic, other high-profile wingers that are pending unrestricted free agents include:
Top pending UFA wingers (listed by team, in alphabetical order):Ā
- Anthony Mantha (Calgary Flames)
- Taylor Hall (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Jack Roslovic (Carolina Hurricanes)
- Ryan Donato (Chicago Blackhawks)
- Jonathan Drouin (Colorado Avalanche)
- Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars)
- Evgenii Dadonov (Dallas Stars)
- Mikael Granlund (Dallas Stars)
- Patrick Kane (Detroit Red Wings)
- Brad Marchand (Florida Panthers)
- Kyle Palmieri (New York Islanders)
- Claude Giroux (Ottawa Senators)
- Mitch Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Brock Boeser (Vancouver Canucks)
- Reilly Smith (Vegas Golden Knights)
- Andrew Mangiapane (Washington Capitals)
- Nikolaj Ehlers (Winnipeg Jets)
This summer will be interesting as NHL general managers suddenly have extra cap space to play with. For the Canucks, that could make it difficult to replace Boeser in free agency, but if they do go down that route, players like Ehlers or Roslovic are intriguing.