Canucks Forward Pleasantly Surprised by Return

For a while, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser would head to free agency this offseason. However, that ended up not being the case.

Just after free agency opened at noon ET on Tuesday, Boeser signed a seven-year, $50.75 million contract ($7.25 million annual cap hit) to retain his title as the longest-tenured Canuck. Even he was surprised to return, but he was very happy he could.

"In my head, I think I was fully set on going somewhere else," Boeser told reporters Wednesday. "And so I had kind of a list of teams in my head that I thought maybe would be good fits and then I just still was kind of uneasy about everything. And then they called and at the end of the day, I think my heart was still in Vancouver."

"That phone call kind of came out of nowhere, so it was definitely a shock to me, but the way I felt when that phone call came is I told my agent, I was like, 'get a deal done.'"

Vancouver selected Boeser, 28, with the No. 23 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. The Burnsville, Minnesota, native took the league by storm in his rookie season in 2017-18 - when he scored 29 goals and 55 points in 62 games, was named the MVP of the All-Star Game and finished second in Calder Trophy voting. He now has 204 goals and 434 points in 554 NHL games, including a career-best 40 goals and 73 points in 2023-24.

Boeser has been the subject of numerous trade rumors over the years, and even he felt like "the door shut a couple times" on a return to Vancouver. However, he never truly wanted to leave.

"I really mentally tried to throw scenarios in my head on different teams I could possibly see myself being on and tried to envision it, but that can only get you so far," Boeser said. "Just thinking about it, I felt like in my stomach I still had a weird feeling about everything and when they called back, I kind of lit up. Even after everything that's happened, I still kind of had that feeling in my stomach and I listened to it, and it felt right when they started talking and trying to figure out a deal. I started getting excited and I just knew it was meant to be."

The Canucks will look to rebound after a disastrous 2024-25 season on and off the ice, and keeping one of their top scorers around is a huge boost for morale.

"I have so much faith in our team and the pieces that we have and 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."