Canucks: Brock Boeser's here to stay — and ready to lead
Article content
Kinda? Maybe? It's hard to see at the moment how this team can re-discover the form they showed in 2023-24 while they are still without any effective replacement for J.T. Miller, especially now that they're also going to have to replace what Pius Suter brought to the table, after the literal Swiss army knife signed a two-year deal with St. Louis on Wednesday.
Article content
Article content
Article content
But Brock Boeser does believe his team can be what it is supposed to be. Especially now that he has peace of mind about his own future.
Article content
'Maybe I can get a house there now,' Boeser quipped to reporters Wednesday morning while discussing his new contract, which pays him $7.25 million US per season for the next seven years.
Article content
Last season was, admittedly, a mess. There were issues in the dressing room, which spilled into the public sphere, creating far more 'noise,' as the players have called it, than they were comfortable with.
Article content
As it became clear that Miller would be traded, the team's play suffered. And then the speculation around Boeser's own future, whether he would be traded at deadline, which he ultimately wasn't, dragged on Boeser.
Article content
But the decision to roll most of last year's lineup back, even after a disappointing 90-point season, a group that has generally struggled to make the playoffs, 2024's strong campaign notwithstanding, is a big bet from Canucks management. And to do it with what amounts to a rookie NHL head coach in Adam Foote — who at least does know this roster well — is another big bet.
Article content
Article content
Boeser believes though. He has always believed in himself.
Article content
'My heart was still in Vancouver,' he said. 'At the end of the day, I understand what they're trying to do with the Canucks, and, you know, I want to be a part of it.'
Article content
He thought he was going to go somewhere else, until Canucks GM Patrik Allvin called Boeser's agent Ben Hankinson about an hour before the free agency market was set to open on July 1. Allvin was offering up the deal Boeser had been looking for.
'I had other guys in my ears, like (Garland) and (Demko) and all those guys kind of pushing my buttons to come back, too. So it obviously plays a big part to have such good friends and have belief with the guys in the room,' he added.
Article content
'I have so much faith in our team and the pieces that we have,' Boeser explained about the delight he felt about being brought back, even after the frustrating course that management had chosen to take in their negotiations with him. 'And Adam Foote, too. I think he's going to be a great head coach, so I think everything just lined up well.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Edmonton Journal
3 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
Big name Toronto winger makes sense to take Corey Perry's old job on Oilers
Article content All of the top NHL unrestricted free agents have already signed contracts, but there's one big name player still available that makes good sense for the Edmonton Oilers to pursue. Article content This doesn't mean this veteran NHL forward will sign with the Oilers. But his skillset — think Corey Perry, only far more physical — fits with what Edmonton needs and would provide said free agrent forward, Matt Pacioretty, with a solid chance of winning his first Stanley Cup. Article content Article content Indications are that Pacioretty will sign elsewhere if he decides to play one more NHL season at age 37. I'm not an insider telling you the Oilers are keen on him or he's keen on the Oilers. But in looking at what Edmonton now needs, having lost power forwards Evander Kane and Dylan Holloway in the past two years, as well as aggressive forwards Warren Foegele, Corey Perry, Connor Brown and Viktor Arvidsson — Pacioretty would might well be an excellent fit here, especially come playoff time. Article content Article content Pacioretty started out ranked 16h on The Daily Faceoff's Matt Larkin's Top 75 NHL free agents on July 1. He's now the third highest ranked player left unsigned, behind only Jack Roslovic and Matt Grzelcyk. Article content Pacioretty has played 939 NHL games with 336 goals and 681 points, along with 58 points in 89 playoff games. Article content Of course, he's slowing down. He had just five goals this past regular season in 37 games for Toronto, that after four goals in 47 games for Washington in 2023-24. But in small doses, Pacioretty still brings it as a power forward. Article content Article content In the last two playoffs season, if we rank NHL forwards giving equal weight two categories, points per 60 minutes of even strength play and hits per 60 even strength, Pacioretty ranks second overall of all NHL forwards, with 21.9 hits per 60 and 1.77 points per 60. Article content Top of the list is Vasily Podkolzin of the Oilers, with Edmonton's Zach Hyman ranking sixth and former Oiler Evander Kane ranking 15th. Article content Article content If we use the same hits and points per 60 markers for the 2024-25 regular season at even strength, Pacioretty also comes out well, ranking 10th overall for all NHL forwards for the season, just behind Washington's Tom Wilson and ahead of Dallas Stars beast Jame Benn.
CBC
4 hours ago
- CBC
#TheMoment a teen golfer became Canada's 1st U.S. Girls' Junior champion
Aphrodite Deng, 15, tells The National about the moment she became the first Canadian to win the U.S. Girls' Junior Golf Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.
CTV News
5 hours ago
- CTV News
Pato O'Ward wins Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, ending frustrating run in Canada
Pole sitter Colton Herta of the United States leads the field into turn 1 at the start of the 2025 Honda Indy Toronto in Toronto, on Sunday, July 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn TORONTO — Mexico's Pato O'Ward has always enjoyed the sights and sounds of Toronto, it's just the IndyCar Series race around Exhibition Place he didn't like, struggling year after year on the street course. O'Ward finally won the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto on Sunday, for the seven-year veteran's first victory in Canada. A pep talk from Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan to the crew the night before, some solid strategy, and a little bit of luck made the win happen. 'It's a big day. It's a very big day,' said O'Ward at this post-race news conference. 'It feels pretty special in a place that has arguably been one of the biggest headaches every single year that we come here.' Like most of the drivers in the 11-turn, 2.874-kilometre race, O'Ward started on a set of less-favourable alternate Firestone Firehawk tires. He had them switched out in his first pit stop just ahead of a Lap 3 caution. That meant O'Ward only had to use the less-favourable set for the better part of two green-flag laps. Although that strategy forced him into a three-stop race, he was able to run the primary compound the rest of the way. 'It's a really good feeling that we didn't just nail the strategy and get lucky, but we also had to earn our win today,' said O'Ward. 'It wasn't given to us. We had the car to be able to do that.' Kanaan, the IndyCar Series champion in 2004 and the winner of the 2013 Indianapolis 500, said he was sick of the narrative that O'Ward and Arrow McLaren struggle in Toronto. 'It hasn't been historically a good weekend for us here, which I didn't want to hear that coming in here,' said Kanaan. 'I was never that type of person. 'As a team, we got together last night and I said, 'Let's change that.' (...) I don't want to believe that's why we won, but...' Rinus VeeKay of the Netherlands finished second and Kyffin Simpson of the United States placed third. Defending champion Colton Herta, who started in pole position on Sunday, was closing in on Simpson with a handful of laps to go when a caution solidified the podium. 'Definitely the final part, looking forward, really trying to close the gap to Pato, it was really hard to close,' said VeeKay. 'I think the track didn't really allow many overtakes. 'All three of us were kind of hovering around the same pace, closing in, making the gap bigger at times. It wasn't very exciting at the end, but it was a lot of work in the car.' Although VeeKay felt there wasn't a lot of opportunities to overtake at the front of the pack, there were actually many passes in the 90-lap race around Toronto's downtown fairgrounds. There were 226 on-track passes (most in the event since 2014) and 201 passes for position (most since 2019). Spain's Alex Palou, the overall standings leader, finished 12th on Sunday, losing significant ground to O'Ward in the points list. O'Ward entered the weekend trailing Palou by 129 points, but cut that to 99 points with four races left in the season. 'We need to make sure that we continue to have days like today, not just one but a few,' said O'Ward. 'Obviously, we're at a time in the championship where we're going to have to get a little bit more into the conversation of getting our elbows out because that's what I had to do today just to open the doors to having a chance to win this race. 'That's the only way we're even going to catch a whiff of making him sweat a little bit.' Toronto's Devlin DeFrancesco, the only Canadian on the grid, finished 22nd, completing 57 laps. His day was derailed when he had to take a lengthy pit stop to have his car repaired after taking some damage in an accident in the 37th lap. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2025. John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
