The Vancouver Canucks remain in the spotlight. After moving on from J.T. Miller, shipping him off to the New York Rangers, acquiring Marcus Pettersson from the Pittsburgh Penguins, and taking Elias Pettersson off the trade market, the focus shifts to Brock Boeser.

Boeser, an unrestricted free agent, entered the season in the final year of a three-deal that paid him $6.650 million per season, which he signed on July 1, 2022. There was a lot of talk this past off-season that the Canucks and Boeser could work on a potential extension.

However, Brock Boeser told reporters before the start of the season that he wanted to focus on the season. Rather than discussing an extension during the year, he wanted the season to play out and then discuss the contract once it was over.

“Just let it play out,” Boeser told NHL.com of his contract situation. “Obviously coming off a blood clot, I think I’ve got a lot to prove, just kind of dealing with that little setback. So, I’m just focused on having a great camp again like I did last year, and trying to have a fast start to this season again.”

Remember, Boeser did not complete the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year for the Vancouver Canucks. He had blood clots after Game 6 in Round 2 against the Edmonton Oilers. Boeser led the Canucks in points during the playoff coming up with big goals.

However, both Boeser and management wanted this year to be kind of a prove-it year. Last season was the first year that Boeser reached the 40-goal plateau. So the Canucks wanted to see if he could do it again? Before that, Boeser was in the mid to high 20s when it came to goals. So that was the big question for the Canucks, is what is he? Is Boeser a 30-goal guy or a 40-goal guy?

It took him a while for him to finally get to that mark. There were lots of years where he would close and then follow up by going under the 20-goal mark. Again, he did battle some personal issues along the way, including his father passing away. However, it appears the issues with Pettersson and Miller affected him the most this season.

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But with Brock Boeser being a UFA at the end of the season and the Canucks still battling for a playoff spot, the Vancouver Canucks have a tough decision to make. Vancouver wants to remain competitive, and the moves over the weekend prove it. The Canucks want to get back to the playoffs, but what if they fall off.

There lies the dilemma. As Rob Simpson of VancouverHockeyInsider.com told Full Press Hockey, President Jim Rutherford and General Manager Patrik Allvin will have to see how things go and decide if they really want to trade Boeser.

He seems to have been impacted by all this. He’s pointless in his last three games, and he’s like a minus-four during that little stretch since the JT thing became a reality. He’s a pretty expensive ticket at the moment. And that’s a separate issue. Do you unload the UFA prior to the trade deadline? Here’s the dilemma. Here’s kind of the catch. The Western Conference is so weak below the two teams presently competing for that second wild card spot.

Right now, it’s a two-team race in Calgary and Vancouver. I mean, Utah’s kind of maybe the next closest, Anaheim, Seattle, San Jose, Chicago. I mean, forget it. None of these teams are scaring anybody. They basically have to beat the Calgary Flames to get into playoffs right now. So as they get through this Four Nations break, they’ll re-evaluate, and then they have to decide, well, can we beat the Calgary Flames? Can we catch up to the Calgary Flames? They’re point behind, two points behind. They play them one more time, head to head on March 12.

If they think they can, then how do they approach it in terms of making moves? If they think they can’t, then probably the best Brock Boeser goes. I mean last year, he had 40 goals. This year he has 16 in 45 games. He has 33 points. So that’s really the crux. – Full Press Hockey Transcriptions

What makes the decision even harder outside of the Western Conference being so poor is that the Colorado Avalanche just traded their UFA Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes. Colorado felt they could not re-sign or extend Rantanen, so they got assets for a player they did not want to lose for nothing.

However, on the flip side, the Toronto Maple Leafs have two pending UFAs: Mitch Marner and John Tavares. Toronto’s GM is not trading either player, as they are vital to the team’s success. So it is a double-edged sword and a tough spot for the Canucks.

The salary cap is going up next season to $95.5 million and then $104 million, then $113 million, so Boeser could get somewhere between $8-$9 million this summer. However, teams like the New Jersey Devils need goal-scoring. The issue is a trade would cost the Devils a player on their roster now that would help the Canucks remain competitive and a prospect, potentially someone like Simon Nemec.

It will be interesting to see what the Vancouver Canucks do. Vancouver also needs Brock Boeser because they can’t score goals, either. But both sides will remain patient before they rush into anything.

It is truly a dilemma for Canucks management as the drama is never ending in Vancouver.

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