Canucks Bozer on commercial rumors: ‘I want to be in Vancouver’

Vancouver – Brock Bozer answered questions on Thursday about the possibility of trading through the Vancouver Conx.

This is his world now.

He is an outstanding young player, a 23-year-old Calder Trophy runner-up who has scored 75 goals and 161 points in his first 197 NHL games.

But Boser is not Elias Peterson or Quinn Hughes, and at this stage in his career he is less influential than teammates JT Miller and Bo Horwat. So, among the top players on the Canucks, among other teams on the lookout, Bozer is logical to include a trade-in hello when Vancouver has to upgrade to another location or duck under the salary cap. And this off-season, Connex should do both.

Connecting the dots between Connex and Minnesota Wild is very easy this week.

Minnesota general manager Bill Gurin is spending $ 42 million on shutdown defenseman Jonas Brodin as of 2019 with a contract extension that should trade Matt Dumba ahead of next year’s Seattle expansion draft. Damba is the only defenseman in Minnesota’s top four, soon carrying an average annual cap charge of 1 27.1 million with no movement restrictions.

Most general managers like Damba in their team. The Knox should upgrade their defense and look like a great fit for the Boer Wild in Minnesota.

The NHL is calling the Central Registry.

“I haven’t heard much, honestly,” Bozer told reporters at the end of the season video conference. “I don’t think I’m going to trade. Apparently, rumors are going on and things are coming out in the media. But I love Vancouver, I love the guys I play with, I love the company, the fans. I want to be Connaught.

“I think our team is still there and I really believe we can win the Stanley Cup in the next two years. I think our coaching staff and our teammates will believe this too. I want to be in Connaught, and I want to be in Vancouver.”

On his second contract, a three-year bridge deal that will pay Bosser 8 8 5.875 million over two more seasons, he will not be able to decide where he will play. Connex General Manager Jim Benning decides.

And Benning said on Thursday he was not trying to do business with Bozer.

“A lot of GMs call us about our players,” Benning said. “I listen and sometimes we talk. It’s my job as a GM. If I don’t listen to other GMs, I’m not doing my job. But we’ve not trying to trade Brock Boser. I’m not talking to Minnesota about him.”

Benning declined further comment. But commercial ulation hogs, whether made or not, do not go away.

Canucks is trying to re-sign three important and expensive players before leaving as unrestricted free agents on October 9th. However (with order or preference) goalie Jacob Markstrom, winger Tyler Tofoli and defenseman Chris Tanev, Benning will have to offload some salary.

Trading Bozer for Damba, who has $ 6 million left over from three years until he touches an unregulated free agency, saves the Conks nothing. It’s going to be a hockey business, and it’s more than just a dumbass, although it’s ready to move the Canucks boss from here.

There are many options Benning could explore to alleviate the cap crisis, such as Louis Erickson ($ 6-million cap hit) or Brandon Sutters ($ 4.375 million), trading depth defenseman Jordi Ben (million 2 million) or restricted free agents Troy Stetcher (last season 3 2.25 Million) or going from Jake Vertanen (25 1.25 million).

Trading bozer should be the last choice, not the first.

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By the time his third full regular season ended with a 12-game goal drought and broken rib cartilage, Boser had 43 points from 45 games and was 21st in NHL scoring.

His hot and cold season replica of Canucks’ stunning 17-game summer playoff run to Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Bosser excelled in the qualifying-round victory over the Wild and in the next round against the St. Louis Blues, but he went on to play 11 games, scoring only one goal, and handling just 14 shots during that spell. Four of those 11 games, Bozer did not record a shot on goal, only once in 57 regular-season games.

“I think it was really eye-opening to see how far we had come for our team,” Boer said of his first playoff. “I really think we’re right there. We’re very close to making it to the finals. Personally, I’m very happy with the way I played. I played very hard and really adhered to the 200-foot game.

“I think I could have done better, I could have shot the puck more. When I shoot the puck, it runs my game and when I play well and create more scoring chances. I think if I look at that kind of thing, I can shoot the puck more, I’m definitely thinking and next season I’m ready to go. “

He was confident he would be part of the Conks next season, but agreed that “if anything happens, it will happen”.