Brock Boeser Was Canucks' Plan B, Claims NHL Insider

“Brock had options. I've been told he had five serious offers on the table, and (Boeser and his camp) were going down the pathway of cutting a deal with another team," Dhaliwal said. "Then, out of the blue, the Canucks called. Do you know why the Canucks called? Because the Canucks No. 1 priority on July 1 first was not Brock Boeser, it was Christian Dvorak."

Dhaliwal explained that only after Dvorak informed Vancouver of his plans to sign with Philadelphia, the Canucks shifted toward re-signing Boeser.

"The Canucks got into a bidding war with Philadelphia over Dvorak,” Dhaliwal said. “When Dvorak said, ‘Sorry,’ they ran out of options. They had to go to Brock. They had to go to Brock and say, ‘Okay, we’ll fix the center position, maybe early next year in a trade.’”

Boeser, 28, willingly accepted the Canucks offer and signed a sizable seven-year, $50.75 million contract.

The winger admitted he didn’t see it coming, considering the challenges both sides faced during their in-season talks.

“It was a roller coaster. My head was spinning a lot during this time. I definitely didn’t think that this was going to happen,” Boeser said. “A phone call in the last hour changed everything, and I’m just happy that we could find common ground and work something out."

That said, Boeser sounded ecstatic at rejoining the only team he's ever played for since he started his NHL career in the 2016-17 season.

"I have so much faith in our team and the pieces that we have, and (head coach) Adam Foote too," Boeser said. "I think he's going to be a great head coach, so I think everything just lined up well, and I'm just super stoked to be back."