The Vancouver Canucks were mostly quiet this trade deadline day. That choice disappointed some and bewildered others, so let’s take a closer look at what they did and didn’t do.
Canucks Trade Deadline Comes and Goes
There was a single deal made before the deadline by the Canucks, and it wasn’t huge. That Carson Soucy was considered expendable shows the confidence team management has in their defensive prospects. It’s been a while since they could say that. Honestly, at least.
The third-round pick coming back in that deal originally belonged to the San Jose Sharks, putting it in the mid-60s. Soucy had an up-and-down season, eventually getting moved to his off side. With the acquisition of Marcus Pettersson and emergence of Elias Pettersson, Soucy lost his spot.
It’s yet another player signed and traded away before their final season, and GM Patrik Allvin shouldn’t be accused of holding still. The team has seen massive changes this season, even if more was expected of him Friday morning. According to him, the market was offering either draft picks or older players, neither of which met his prices.
An Odd Silence
Indeed, this management group tends to make moves, and lots of them. But they’re also frequently done well before any deadline happens. There were typical options for Vancouver to trade away, but they don’t see themselves as sellers.
Pius Suter and Derek Forbort are both unrestricted free agents at the end of the year. Depth defensemen and versatile centres are often targets this time of year. But again, those are the sort of players being looked for. Moving them just to replace them is pointless.
The non-trades tell us what the team thinks of their chances to make the playoffs. No new bodies were brought in, but obvious moves didn’t happen. They aren’t making a push, but also don’t think they will bottom out. This sounds hauntingly familiar to many Canucks fans.
They also chose not to trade the elephant in the room. Either one of them, if you believe some sources. Perhaps they’re at home with this particular shade of grey, neither black nor white. The Canucks trade deadline matches the weather.
What A Boes
One of the elephants is the somewhat cheerier pachyderm who apologized to reporters earlier in the week. Him we’ll get into later, no doubt. There’s a lot to deal with there, so we’ll take that story one bite at a time.
Then there’s Brock Boeser, Vancouver’s other unrestricted free-agent forward. The common belief was that he would have to sign with the team before the deadline, or they would trade him. It’s logical: he’s in the last year of his contract and just needs to wait for free agency.
And given who’s now off the market, Boeser will be a target this off-season. Any team going big-game hunting for a scorer will be interested in his shot. He has averaged 30 goals every 82 games, even if you don’t include last season’s high.
He does have a somewhat contentious history in negotiating with the Canucks, which isn’t a surprise. His last contract was signed as the team and the NHL at large were still recovering from the pandemic shutdown. The one before that, with its wildly escalating base salary, took until mid-September.
In theory, his qualifying offer this time should have been taken from the $7.5 million base salary he was paid in 2021-22. Instead, they agreed to his current $6.65 million average for three years, walking him to unrestricted free agency. By that perspective, he took almost a million dollars less per season to sign.
So now what?
Canucks Trade Deadline Was Neither
Let’s start with the obvious. Brock Boeser doesn’t want to leave. Most players prefer the teams they’re on because no one likes packing, and all of them are well compensated. Boeser has also repeatedly said how much he likes his life in Vancouver, and Vancouver likes him right back.
But there is only so far that can go. The NHL is a salary cap league, and it’s hard to pay someone because he’s a nice guy. Then again, if there’s any problem in a dressing room, the last person involved is the Minnesotan with a California surfer vibe.
Even so, his contributions aren’t just off the ice with everything else hand-waved away. He scores. The question is whether he can continue to score – or at least contribute – far into the future. The good news is that he almost certainly can, though, naturally, the pace will eventually drop off.
Boeser doesn’t drive play himself. He’s an excellent finisher, a 14% career average shooter, finding whole new ways to shoot over the years. He’s surprisingly good on the boards, though not a bruiser. His goals come from close to the net now, certainly more than early in his career. He’s strong enough to take a beating there, too.
His passing abilities shouldn’t be overlooked, either. At the deadline, Boeser had 244 assists to go with his 197 goals. Not only does he find a shooter when he has to, he can also discern when it’s better for shoot instead.
But What About…
The most frequent criticism is his foot speed. What comes to mind is the old Dave Andreychuck quote: “Yeah, I lost a step. But I’m so slow anyway, no one noticed.” Now, Andreychuk was a horse who played into his 40s, and no one should expect that.
Boeser uses his hockey sense to score, not just his physical skills. That’s not going to deteriorate, but how long will his body be able to keep up? It’s a reasonable question, given his injury history. That is one thing he was famous for – not reaching 30 goals because some injury or other hampered him.
But it might be time to put that idea to rest. He’s been reasonably healthy over the past five years, playing in 337 of 364 games. And if you look closer at his injuries, they have affected different things. His foot, his back, his hand, COVID, even the unfortunate blood clotting aren’t like a damaged joint. He doesn’t have one hip continuously popping out on him.
As for how much the Canucks want to keep him, at the trade deadline Allvin said there was no market for him. He claimed that the offers were so bad that if he revealed them, he’d have to “run out of the room.” Which is… weird. Not just his sudden fear of reporters, but that no one would match the price that Anthony Beauvillier fetched.
We don’t know what the Canucks were offered, but it seems that perhaps Allvin isn’t as cool to Boeser as he’s sometimes appeared. The team has accepted the risk of handing Boeser all the power as free agency looms on July 1st.
Just You Wait!
Standing relatively pat on this deadline sends a message, and it’s not one many fans like. The Canucks aren’t going for it – as they shouldn’t – but they don’t think they’re bad enough to rebuild. That shouldn’t be controversial, but memories of the previous management group lie in a shallow grave here.
Nearly a decade of “We’re almost there!” left a mediocre team with accidental draft picks and little hope. It’s a sensitive topic. You can understand if emotions run hot at this time of year.
On the other hand, Vancouver has two of the hardest things to find: a star centre and a superstar defenceman. Those are hard to give up, especially when the superstar defenceman has a contract to negotiate in two years.
And there is a reason to support continuing to move forward this season instead of dropping back. The year has been an unmitigated disaster, with constant upheaval forcing a major shakeup. Major injuries to Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, Thatcher Demko, Elias Pettersson, and yes, Boeser himself have hobbled the team.
Despite the circus, they are still in hard for a playoff spot with 20 games to go. Let’s see how well the elephants can perform.
*We’re not going to say we called it, but…
Main photo by: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The post Quiet Canucks Trade Deadline Leaves Boeser Hanging appeared first on Last Word On Hockey.